Novell eyes B2B market

Network software maker Novell has teamed up with business-to-business (B2B) developer Netfish to create products that help trading partners work together and exchange data using XML.

The companies will jointly build software that manages the supply chain, logistics co-ordination and customer relationship management. They will also promote sales and marketing.

The partnership includes an undisclosed investment by Novell in Netfish, which recently closed a $30m round of equity funding.

Lubor Ptacek, product manager for Novell's iChain extranet access management software, said the tie-up and investment are part of the company's strategy based on Novell Directory Services (NDS), which manages access to computer resources and keeps track of the users of a network.

Ptacek said B2B is the next area for communication between systems. "This partnership is the first one announced specific to B2B," he said.

iChain is built around secure directory-enabled technologies. The software connects companies together and includes connections to billing systems which allow businesses to complete transactions online.

Netfish's XDI software makes it easier for separate business entities to unify their incompatible enterprise resource planning systems and automate workflow processes transparently over the internet. The first product from this partnership will be available this summer.

Forrester Research predicts that by 2004, 53 per cent of B2B transactions will occur through process hubs (eHubs), similar to those made possible by Netfish.

Separately, Novell issued a profit warning last week, blaming its poor performance on the onslaught of Microsoft Windows 2000 and Linux into its market.

The news that its fiscal second quarter revenue would be half of that expected by Wall Street sent its stock plummeting by more than a third. Novell said revenue will be around $300m or eight cents a share. Analysts polled by First Call were expected earnings a share of 16 cents.