Novell, Sun Form Strategic Alliance
Articles and Tips: article
01 Feb 1997
Novell, Sun Form Strategic Alliance
Novell and Sun Microsystems, Inc. recently announced a strategic alliance to broaden the reach and capabilities of Sun's Java technologies to developers creating Java applications for business intranets. Novell will license Sun's Java WorkShop development environment, other Java technologies and WebNFS for use with its IntranetWare platform, while Sun will license Novell Directory Services (NDS) and make it available on its Solaris operating environment.
Intranet solutions resulting from the alliance will allow developers and business users to take advantage of the unique strengths of technologies from both companies: Java's platform independent "write once, run anywhere" capability; and the ability of NDS to access, manage, and secure network information.
"Novell's licensing of Java WorkShop provides Sun an expansive channel for the ground breaking Java development environment," said Evan Quinn, Research Director at International Data Corporation. "At the same time, Java WorkShop gives Novell the type of exciting development tool that will help establish IntranetWare and expand the penetration of NDS. While both companies benefit from this arrangement, the developer is the ultimate winner."
Ultimately, this alliance is aimed at three major goals:
Empower developers to build the next wave of network applications based on an infrastructure of distributed network services such as directory, naming, security, and high performance communication-everything from database, workgroup productivity, and collaboration to electronic commerce and information retrieval.
Enable businesses to implement a distributed directory infrastructure for intranet/Internet applications that runs across all platforms and reduces costs of network administration and management.
Provide end users with secure access to a broader range of intranet/Internet applications and services.
"Through our business Intranet alliance, Novell is working closely with Sun and dedicating significant resources to Java development and deployment," said Joe Marengi, president, Novell, Inc. "Our goals are to make development of network applications easier, to provide users with the top performing platform in its class for executing Java applications, and to empower Java developers with access to Novell and Sun networking services."
"Java is the rosetta stone that makes the industries most powerful technologies universally available," said Janpieter Scheerder, president, SunSoft, Inc. "Novell, with more than 60 million users, is an important partner to Sun in advancing Java development and deployment for the benefit of end users and PC developers. As a result of the Sun and Novell alliance, Java developers will gain access to new development tools and powerful network services from Sun and Novell for use in intranet and Internet solutions."
The Novell Sun alliance includes several agreements, specifically:
Novell will expand and simplify Java development on its IntranetWare platform by licensing Sun's Java WorkShop, the award winning, integrated development environment for creating Java applications. Novell will distribute Java WorkShop to thousands of subscribers in its DeveloperNet program, and plans to incorporate next generation Java development tools from Sun in its next IntranetWare release.
Sun will license the market leading NDS and make it available on its Solaris operating environment.
Novell will license Sun'sJust In Time (JIT) compiler for quickly executing Java applications and incorporate it in its IntranetWare Software Development Kit (SDK) for the Java platform; Novell will also deliver the compiler in an upcoming IntranetWare release. The Novell Java SDK, including a complete Java execution environment for IntranetWare,is now available in beta for download at http://developer.novell.com.
Novell will also license Sun's WebNFS technology for use in its NetWare NFS product, which will allow any WebNFS enabled browser or client to access information on NetWare WebNFS servers over intranets or the internet. WebNFS is the de facto Internet file system standard, and is an enhancement to NFS, the proven network file system with an installed basein excess of 10 million users. NFS is available on all leading platforms from over 75 vendors.
The Novell Sun strategic business intranet alliance includes a range of marketing and engineering activities to promote Java. The two companies will collaborate to develop Java APIs and development tools, promote the implementation of Java on a broad range of client and server platforms, and market solutions based on Java.
* Originally published in Novell AppNotes
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The origin of this information may be internal or external to Novell. While Novell makes all reasonable efforts to verify this information, Novell does not make explicit or implied claims to its validity.