Novell to champion Linux support

Novell wants to be the single point of contact for Linux support, which it believes enterprises will need before they are prepared to use Linux for desktops and mission-critical systems.

The company has embarked on a training programme to create 1,000 support engineers, and has signed a support agreement with Linux distributor SuSE. It is understood to be negotiating a similar deal with Red Hat.

Sales teams, consultants and engineers at Novell and its services arm are currently being trained in Linux.

The firm is also launching new certification and partner training programmes as it throws its "entire ecosystem, including worldwide distribution and support, behind Linux", according to chairman and chief executive Jack Messman.

A report published in March by Forrester Research identified lack of support as the biggest concern for enterprises looking at using open source software.

"Because we're going to support [Linux] we have to get our own field organisation up to speed very quickly," said Messman.

"By this time next year we'll have our entire support organisation up to speed. With Netware, we have proven our support capabilities."

Some 450 engineers have already completed initial training, and some sales staff have started learning skills, with online learning a key part of the company's strategy.

In an interview with vnunet.com, Messman said that Linux is now an equal partner in Novell's strategy, along with its Netware-based portfolio, and had "taken on the mantle of the company's future".

Novell recently laid off one in 10 staff but will use some of the savings to provide marketing dollars for August acquisition Ximian, the open source software provider, and the Linux side of its Netware roadmap.

Messman insisted that the company's smaller size would help it transition products to Linux more quickly, while providing enough cash to spend on marketing Linux as a "champion for open source".

"The numbers we're prepared to devote to it over the next 12 months will be more than anyone but IBM," he claimed.

Messman had earlier said in his keynote address at the company's Brainshare conference that he wanted Novell and Ximian to be the "catalyst" for desktop and enterprise Linux.

"At some point there will be a movement to get Linux on the desktop. For applications of a transaction processing nature, Linux offers a significant advantage," he said.

A report from analyst Gartner indicated last week that migrating PC desktops to Linux makes sense only in a very narrow, limited range of situations, a view Messman recognises.

"We still have to clarify the migration path to the desktop for Linux," he said.

Messman added that, with Ximian, the company is "trying to put some functionality on the desktop to make it compatible with Microsoft".

"Enterprises want a choice," he said. "Their view is that they don't have a choice on the desktop and that Microsoft's licensing is only going to get worse."