Microsoft claims customer mandate for Novell Linux deal
/v3-uk/news/1961611/microsoft-claims-customer-mandate-novell-linux-deal
12 Dec 2006, Robert Jaques , V3
Microsoft today claimed that there is "strong customer support" for its recent alliance with Novell.
The Redmond giant said that a survey of IT decision makers it commissioned from market research firm Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates shows overwhelming support for the deal. Nearly all respondents were said to want to improve Windows/Linux interoperability and have tools that make it easier to manage mixed Windows and Linux environments.
Penn, Schoen & Berland conducted 201 interviews between November 17-20 with IT executives, managers or staff whose primary job is in a formalised IT department, or who perform IT functions in a non-IT department, but who have significant technology purchasing authority. Organisations had to have at least 500 PCs to participate in the survey.
Ninety-five per cent of respondents were said to approve of the collaboration between Novell and Microsoft. Some 87 per cent said that customers benefit if leading Linux distributors and Microsoft worked more closely with one another.
In addition, four out of five believe their organisation would consider doing more business with Linux dealers if Linux providers establish an alliance with Microsoft.
Interoperability was identified as the area where respondents want the most focus. Some 97 per cent said they wanted platform providers to improve interoperability of their systems and provide tools that make it easier for the end user to navigate both Linux and Windows environments.
"Microsoft and Novell entered into this agreement to make it easier for customers to deploy Windows Server and Linux together," said Susan Heystee, vice president of Global Strategic Alliances at Novell. "The results of this independent research show the majority of approval numbers over 80 and 90 per cent."
Susan Hauser, general manager of customer advocacy at Microsoft, added: " Customers who have mixed-source environments want their platform providers to work better together to tackle the complexity and cost of integration. Through our work with Novell, we're doing just that."
Do you agree?
Lies and statistics
Its strange how easy skewing a statistic is.
Take this article for example. Apparently Microsoft wants to project that 95% of people surveyed wanting Linux-Windows interoperability means they support the Microsoft-Novell deal.
Interoperability has nothing to do with two companies agreements with each other. Interoperability has a lot to do with open standards.
Microsoft should really be adopting the ODF ISO standard if it was really serious about interoperability.
But we've seen various examples of this hijacking of standards by Microsoft. Why for example, would Microsoft need WINS when there was already DNS? Why ADS when there was already LDAP?
This is another great example of Microsoft misrepresenting statistics to project what they want.
Posted by G Fernandes, 12 Dec 2006
get a clue
This is just the whole problem with microsoft. they talk to the people who have no clue in how to make this stuff work. these people believe everything that steve ballmer tells them.
hello to the 200 cio's or whoever they talked to -
this is for you - get a clue
ODF is an ISO approve standard that anybody can write their software to -
it is out in the open for ANYBODY to see. but microsoft doesn't want to bother with it - they would rather go to senators and get legislation passed because someone who knew what they were doing made a decision and now the people who don't know what they were doing made an environment to where that person did not want his job anymore because he did not want to put his family through the politics that his CORRECT decision brought on. i.e false accusations in the local newspaper.
this is the only way microsoft gets in shops - they talk to people who have no clue on how shat works and basically bully, threaten, and force their crap software on companies. why would any of these CIO's say anyting otherwise after they saw what happen in Massachusets.
microsoft want interoperability - they just want their way - they should ask the 200 cio's or whoever they surveyed if they knew what ODF was and if they did have they asked microsoft to offer it in their product.
that is a cio's job. not to have dinners and lunches from microsoft and make monopolist backroom enterprise software assurance deals and believe everything they are told by steve ballmer and company.
again to the CIO's - there was no need for this deal - this deal was to extend microsoft's illegal monopoly and if you don't see that then I would suggest a career change.
Posted by James M. Susanka, 13 Dec 2006
Interop good, but no need for agreement with M$
Certainly, the most Linux users greets interop with all other OS's -- but for this its not necessary any agreement or even license fee to M$, nor any recognize that Linux would contain or violate M$ patents. Inclusive, because its of M$'s interest, too.
And automatically provided by Linux; one see that M$ also nothing contribute to such an interoperability.
As a matter of fact, according to the laws of the most countries, Linux is a public service - from the side of the human right warranted in UNO laws each person participate on the tecnical progress, and ensign; and from the side that each country have souvereignity right to develop areas like informatics for its administration. education, realization of the quoted human right, and realize this by OS projects by workers on its universities , militar, etc. Linux is official; Windows privat, without the truely necessary concession for comercialization of a public service, and thus marginal. By these reason, especially the non-comercial distribution of Linux is immune against any patent claims. When M$ persons, by advices or other extorsion disturb Linux and OS programming and use, then should be opened a penal persecution (when against souvereignity functions, at a military tribunal) against M$ persons.
Posted by werner, 13 Dec 2006