Jeff Jaffe’s Blog

By far, the major obsession of Novell’s engineering team is to deliver products with the enterprise level quality that customers demand and deserve for mission-critical usage.

It is useful to review our comprehensive approach to quality. Quality is not a single process. It is baked into everything we do: before and during development; after products are shipped in the field; with maintenance provided to customers well after products have been shipped. Due to this breadth I will “fishbone” our activities and address this topic over several postings.

In this posting we define quality, provide key tenets, and outline future posts.

Quality Defined

There are numerous definitions of quality—the most general being “the degree to which the product meets customer expectations”. This can be interpreted as—choosing the right features to meet market needs—and in the past I have described our Integrated Product Development (IPD) process that has that goal. By the way, we are broadening IPD to include a new Requirements Management System which allows customers and partners to directly input their needs to Novell’s product management. But, that is a story for a different day.

Colloquially, when people talk about product quality however, they refer to product defects or bugs. We address bugs throughout the lifecycle of a product by preventing defects in the first place, testing and debugging to remove them, and patching and fixing problems in customer installations. This definition is akin to a classical Six Sigma focus on defects and this is the aspect of product quality that I will discuss.

Philosophy

Herein are basic tenets or beliefs about product quality. Many of these are common in the industry; some are unique to Novell.

1. We are in business to provide mission critical software. Accordingly, we hold ourselves to high standards for initial product quality and strive to correct defects found by our customers.
2. Quality must be built in prior to customer shipment. The cost for Novell and our customers alike grows exponentially the later in the deployment process one finds a bug.
3. The practice of software development has not been perfected. There is no such thing as bug free software. We strive for excellence, but recognize that defects will occur.
4. The response to these defects is modulated by severity. Critical defects found in a customer’s production environment get the most immediate attention.
5. We make mistakes. And we fix them. If a defect occurs, we patch it. If a product has too many bugs, we redouble our efforts to restore quality to that product as soon as possible.
6. Consequence of 5—we try really hard not to make the same mistake twice!
7. Our employees respond to management’s attention. Hence we carefully measure our quality, review it on a regular basis, and won’t ship products that do not hit quality criteria. This ensures that we will build quality in.
8. There are different methodologies for developing software including agile, waterfall, and open source (community). Our customers expect and deserve equal quality regardless of the methodology.
9. Consequence of 8—although there might be different methods to develop software; the software quality metrics and release criteria must be the same.
10. Quality is a continuous learning process. Time is set aside for our engineers to continue to grow and learn to improve their skills.

The Fishbone

This is a broad topic and it is already running a bit long. Let me summarize my intentions by listing the key aspects that I will discuss in future blog entries:

• Building in quality from the ground up: In the development of a product, how do we build with as few defects as possible. For agile, waterfall, and open source.
• Metrics: What are the common metrics we track to ensure that we release with quality.
• Testing tools: Methodologies, laboratories, cross-product testing, defect management process.
• Product introduction: How do we manage that very challenging time when a new product is first introduced into the field. Readiness criteria.
• Continuous improvement: Engineering Excellence Steering Committee. Learning Initiative.
• Cadence between product development and Novell services: How we work together and hold each other accountable within Novell to take care of our customers.

We’ve been talking about security and access control management—most recently as part of “securing the cloud“. Securing the cloud is based on technology that Novell has developed for securing the enterprise. As we design for the future of securing the cloud—today’s enterprises also require continued enhancement to secure their enterprise.

Some recent notes.

SAP Partnership for IT Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) Programs

For enterprise needs our recent focus has been on the creation of a compliance platform. Compliance has emerged as a key customer issue. IT systems are the window into how businesses are governed. Much of our attention is on integrating with partners; such as our April announcement to certify to SAP’s NetWeaver platform.

We took this to the next level with today’s tight announcement with SAP. SAP’s Business Objects GRC solutions are outstanding, and by integrating with Novell’s compliance and identity management capabilities we add to the value proposition for customers. Specifically, the integration improves performance, automation of controls, simplification, and risk reduction. Overall, it makes it easy for customers to manage security and compliance policies.

Novell Secure Login

Customers require Enterprise Single-Sign On for enterprise applications. Earlier this year, we intensified our focus in this critical area, so we acquired some technology from ActiveIdentity.

Last month, we strengthened what customers can achieve with Novell SecureLogin. Two major focus areas: Interoperability and Scripting. The interoperability enhancements ensure that customers can use our solution irrespective of their compute platforms. The automated Scripting is more critical than ever. As access control, security, and compliance play a deeper role in enterprises, Single-Sign On needs to be integrated across a broader set of applications. The Scripting enhancements automate a customers’ ability to use Novell SecureLogin.

Recognition

It is not only Novell that touts the importance of this product. Novell SecureLogin was recognized in Gartner Inc.’s 2008 ESSO Magic Quadrant report. Last month, Gartner released their MarketScope for Enterprise Single Sign-On and gave our product a Strong Positive rating.

NYC

On a personal note, I was born and bred in New York. While I now live in Massachusetts—once a New Yorker; always a New Yorker.

So I was delighted to see that New York City has recently announced adoption of Novell’s Compliance Management Platform. I enjoyed seeing that my hometown was leveraging Novell’s technology depth, automation, ease-of-use, and interoperability in the Security and Compliance area—to simplify access to city services and better integrate across city departments.

In my last posting, I outlined the significance of cloud computing and Novell’s architecture to provide infrastructure for the cloud. Herein I will provide some detail for the piece called connecting to the cloud via devices enabled by Moblin.

Novell’s Cloud Architecture

To reprise our cloud architecture, we discussed five key elements.

• Connect
• Secure
• Manage
• Develop
• Collaborate

Connecting to the Cloud

Everything will connect to the cloud. Every client will need services from the cloud and every server will interact with the compute cloud. So when we talk about connecting to the cloud, we are not referring to a unique new communications protocol or specialized device.

Rather, we are focused on the operating environment for a device whose primary function is to access services from the network; the Web; or the compute cloud. That is why we refer to Moblin as the key component for connecting to the cloud.

The cloud introduces the need for a new family of devices to be used by consumers and enterprise users alike. These devices have as their primary role to connect to these services. Some of these devices are more capable—approaching PC class in nature, others are strict communicators.

Intel has taken the lead in designing the operating environment most suited for these devices. Logically, they are leveraging Linux since key ingredients such as openness and low cost are critical. Intel’s variation of Linux—Moblin—further optimizes for devices whose primary role is connectivity. Optimization helps drive lower power chip sets and small screen sizes. It allows simplification of the user interface since it is not a general desktop.

Travel in Asia—Feel the Excitement

I spent the last two weeks in Asia—Taiwan, China, and India—and being in a different part of the world focused my attention on the value of cloud computing. You can see the potential. Powerful communicators / computers will open up computing to a new class of users. In these new “segments”—people will get their first introduction to computing via services from the cloud. In our industry, every time that we open up computers to a new class of users it drives change in our system design. Thus, desktop Linux will succeed in this new environment because it can flex to this design point.

No wonder that it was at Computex in Taipei earlier this month that Moblin made such a big hit.

Novell and Moblin

Novell has announced that we will support a SUSE version of Moblin and make it available on netbooks. We announced our Taiwan laboratory in May and followed it up with our Computex demo in June. We are contributing to Moblin and leveraging it. Moblin is a key infrastructure for cloud computing where Novell will play a large role as part of our cloud infrastructure strategy.

Part of Novell’s focus within IT Management Services is an intense focus on Data Center Management; particularly our Build, Manage, and Measure approach. Three recent events are proof points of both the broad IT Management Services as well as the Data Center focus.

1. Strategic Initiative with ACS

Last week Novell announced a strategic initiative with ACS. It is a broad partnership with benefits for each company.

Working with ACS in building out their ACS Management Platform (AMP) is advantageous for Novell. It allows us to validate our Service Driven Data Center (SDDC) vision. Recall the three key elements of SDDC:

• The Build component. We have included in this agreement that Suse Linux Enterprise is a key operating system platform.
• The Manage component. We have included PlateSpin to manage workloads in a heterogeneous, virtualized environment.
• The Measure component. We have included a Business Services Management capability.

Our benefits go beyond the inclusion of the three basic building blocks.

• The partnership allows us to explore advanced management features in a demanding environment. This includes workload management [link workload blog], automation, and virtualization. We instantiate these ideas in a fully integrated fashion.
• The partnership allows us to explore emerging operating environments. Not only are physical and virtual deployments of relevance but we have also included cloud computing as a focus area.
• To address critical security needs, identity management and security solutions will be prominently featured.

2. Codie awards

The agreement with ACS represents a key validation of our vision and strategy with customers and partners. Our systems management strategy also enjoys validation in industry groups.

• Last month, ZENworks Asset Management was recognized by the Software Industry and Information Association (SIIA) as the Best Asset Management Solution.
• Also, ZENworks Endpoint Security Management was recognized by SIIA in the Best Security Solution category.

3. ZENworks Configuration Management 10 SP 2

Less than one year ago we released ZCM SP1. Recall that this is dedicated to managing desktops in an interoperable environment with integration to Active Directory. For SP2, we are listening to what customers need to complete their migration to ZCM, and have addressed this. Included:

• Improved migration services
• Improved installability
• Broader platform support to reaffirm the ZCM commitment to interoperability.

Summary

This past month has been hugely successful in terms of validating all pieces of our management strategy. For long-time ZENworks customers, ZCM 10 SP 2 represents yet another demonstration of continued commitment to this platform. Elements of our desktop solution: asset management and endpoint security are recognized as award winners. Our Data Center management strategy has received a huge endorsement from ACS which will help us further develop and validate our strategy in the marketplace.

In my last blog, I began to outline four aspects of how we achieve our strategy and long-term roadmap. The four areas were:

1. Leadership. Why our products lead the industry.
2. Delivery. In the “engine room”—how we build those products, what processes result in leadership, and our commitment to interoperability as a design point in every product.
3. Incubation. How we take breakout ideas and make them into businesses.
4. Strategy and Vision. Fossa, our overarching technical strategy. Novell is an industry leader in next generation technologies and standards.

We got through the first two in the last posting, and in this posting we will finish the job.

3. Incubation—Breakout moves

A tough challenge that any company has is how to nurture great people and great ideas and convert them into businesses? We don’t lack great people or great ideas and we continue to grow the set of talented people inside of Novell. In December 2008 we added James Bottomley to our staff, a noted Linux leader, director of the Linux Foundation, and lead maintainer of the SCSI system for Linux.

On the business side, how do we create new businesses? For 2009, we created a program and set aside investment money to take a couple of great ideas and seize the industry. To be sure, we are satisfied with our existing products and strategies. They are providing growth and profitability. But we will invest beyond: breakout moves that will capture the imagination of the industry.

Our focus on breakouts drives internal enthusiasm. A total of 265 ideas were contributed to this program by Novell’s employees. Nat Friedman went on a whirlwind tour: 5 locations in 5 countries and three continents in two weeks to drive enthusiasm and stimulate brainstorming. Many of these ideas were incremental improvements, natural adjacencies of existing products. For those ideas, we asked that the features be assessed via our usual IPD process. However, we expect to select a couple of these ideas and fund them into new products for Novell, for customers, and partners.

You won’t see the products come out in 2009, but we will be public about our efforts to commercialize them.

4. Strategy and Vision—Fossa

One way to test new product ideas is to see whether they fit within our overall technology vision. Novell’s products are interdependent; together they server a higher purpose. There is a raison d’etre for Novell—a common purpose for the company. This is important for customers and partners as they assess our value to them.

Last year, at Brainshare we introduced our Fossa project. Let me tell you about the goals of this project, how it relates to Novell’s overarching vision, and progress to date.

If you talk to CIOs today, they’ll tell you that their IT infrastructure is anything but agile. CIOs want nothing more than infinite flexibility to deploy their IT resources in support of their business objectives. Delivering on this promise—infinite IT flexibility and agility—is at the core of the Fossa Project, a technical vision for computing and collaborating with agility.

Fossa provides agile resource management. It manages resources in a changing environment which affects how IT organizations deploy resources—with virtualization, cloud computing, appliances, Web 2.0, and mash-ups. Linux is our open source approach to managing resources in a single system and Novell has a premium place as a future leader in operating systems as open source commoditizes the operating systems layer.

Similarly, Fossa is our open source approach to managing resources in this new dynamic environment across multiple systems. Novell will be a leader in Systems Management as open source commoditizes this layer.

What progress have we made? Since articulating this vision at Brainshare, we have published scenarios or use cases that characterize how Fossa transforms resource management. We will soon publish a vision document which gives a technical roadmap for IT agility. We know exactly which standards and open source projects are needed. We have blanketed this space with patents to ensure an open playing field. With our enterprise credibility and open source credibility—we are the unique company who can be trusted to lead this.

Summary

Let me summarize with the main takeaways:

1. We have great products.
2. We have seven focus areas to make them great: IPD, market focus, engineering excellence, technology leadership, quality, interoperability, and channel readiness.
3. We will invest to take new ideas to market.
4. All of these ideas fit within a simple compelling value proposition for Novell. We will provide the agile, enterprise quality, open IT infrastructure.

For the last two years (2007 and 2008), I have used the first blog of the year to review Novell’s overall technical strategy. Familiar themes such as open source, mixed source, interoperability with Microsoft, management, and virtualization appeared. We continue to enhance each of these aspects as I’ve noted numerous times. This year I will start with a different broad and fundamental topic.

Specifically, I’ll focus on four aspects of our work—the methods we use to achieve our strategy and our long-term roadmap. The four topics:

1. Leadership. Why our products lead the industry.
2. Delivery. In the “engine room”—how we build those products, what processes result in leadership, and our commitment to interoperability as a design point in every product.
3. Incubation. I will explain how we take breakout ideas and make them into businesses.
4. Strategy and Vision. I will review Fossa, our overarching technical strategy. Novell is an industry leader in next generation technologies and standards.

Taken together—a superb technology story.

1. Leadership—Novell’s great products

We have refreshed the entire portfolio in the last twelve months.

Open Platform Solutions. The heart of our OPS business is SUSE Linux Enterprise. SUSE Linux Enterprise is the best engineered and most interoperable Linux from the desktop to the data center. Our continued business success is illustrated by Microsoft extending their commitments to Novell with another $100M in SLES certificates. We have more then 2,500 certified ISV applications on SLE 9 and 10, and strengthened our ecosystem relationships with SAP, IBM, HP, Dell, Lenovo, and others.

Systems and Resource Management. In 2008, our Platespin acquisition catapulted us to leadership in managing the data center—both physical and virtual. We’re the only company that does that from one set of tools. Our Managed Objects acquisition further enhances data center management, as well as placing us in the middle of exciting developments for Business Service Management. Our endpoint management solutions—whether you are managing desktops or mobile devices, are among the most powerful and flexible tools in the industry. For desktop management, ZENworks Configuration Management SP 1 was released in August which works with Active Directory configurations—with quality. This makes our product accessible to a broader set of customers.

Identity and Security Management. In 2008, we grew share in Identity by delivering such innovations as the Compliance Management Platform—an integrated solution for customer compliance needs. And we continue to integrate best-of-breed industry technology into our identity product suites. No wonder we are in the Gartner “Leaders quadrant” again and again.

Workgroup. Years of falling revenue caused analysts to write us off in workgroup. In 2008, we proved the critics wrong. Armed with Open Enterprise Server 2, we stopped the rapid decline of revenue. For 2009, we have Bonsai—a totally refurbished GroupWise 8—and OES2 SP 1 to provide extended value to Novell’s base. With our SiteScape acquisition and Teaming + Conferencing—we are leaders in the emerging area of open collaboration.

2. Delivery—In the engine room, how do we make the product great?

I want to step back and discuss the processes we use to define and deliver products. They focus on customer, partner, market needs and disciplined execution. Seven key points.

1. Product Management. Our product management process—IPD—chooses the right markets, product segments, and features. We have used this successfully for two years. No product feature is approved without input from the field, marketing, and customers. Despite great engineering, Novell is no longer an engineering driven company.

2. Market-driven focus. With the marketing and sales organizations at the IPD table when we do feature selection, we specify capabilities that address customer challenges, differentiate us from the competition, and drive sales.

3. Engineering Excellence. In 2008 we introduced an engineering excellence program. These processes ensure that we are agile in product delivery, and that we deliver on-time and with quality. We are as crisp on the engineering side as we are on the feature selection side.

4. Technology. We have great technology. In 2008 we received over 100 patents—a huge number for a company our size.

5. Quality. Quality levels are guaranteed via an interlock with the field. Customers and our services organization tell us how quickly defects need to be fixed; and what defect rate is tolerable—and engineering is accountable to that.

6. Interoperability. Novell’s market positioning is “Making IT Work as One.” But without engineering, that’s just a tagline. We’ve made interoperability a core design point of every product. Our products work well with each other and interoperate with the industry. Within Novell, we have monthly calls to lock product dependencies. This helps us optimize our products on Linux and creates cross-Novell offers such as the Novell Open Workgroup Suite. Outside of Novell, we have the best Linux interoperability with Microsoft, a vendor agnostic solution with Platespin and integrated offers with IBM, SAP, and others.

7. Ecosystem. We have turned R&D upside down to be partner friendly. We build channel ready products for solution providers and have deep integration with Global Solution Providers.

More to come

This blog is getting a little long, so I will finish this discussion in my next posting.

Last year, we launched OES 2. This product is important to our NetWare customer base, drives the growth of Linux, and is a proof-point of industrial strength virtualization using SLES and XEN. The product’s success has contributed to the business success achieved in fiscal 2008 by our Workgroup team. Our attention and focus have paid off. We have now launched a service pack for OES 2—one which adds considerable function.

OES 2 reprise

In two blog entries last year “Open Enterprise Server 2” and “General availability of Open Enterprise Server 2“, I elaborated on our objectives. First, to ensure continuity, longevity, and support for our NetWare customers. NetWare as an operating system can not keep up with all system demands such as device driver support—by virtualizing NetWare on Linux we have an alternative to increase the value of our customer’s investments in NetWare based solutions.

Beyond that, we boast many features:

• Greater interoperability with Microsoft; particularly around Active Directory and eDirectory
• NetWare-equivalent services available as pure Linux services
• Ecosystem support—by key partners—for functions such as backup and anti-virus
• Manageability
• Dynamic storage technology
• 64 bit processor
• Leveraging XEN open source virtualization technology
• Training programs to develop Linux skills for our customers.

And, as emphasized in my post, “General availability of Open Enterprise Server 2“, with a focus on quality and performance.

OES 2 SP 1—theme

OES 2 SP 1 is loaded with features, but a single word that highlights the major focus of this release is interoperability.

It make sense. Look at Novell’s core value proposition. We Make IT Work as One. We are the single company dedicated to making all customer IT environments work well together. For NetWare services to have maximum utility—they attach to the entire gamut of IT choices that customers have made.

It’s easy for me to “toot our horn” about interoperability. What do others say? We were gratified to have Joe Long, Microsoft’s General Manager of Identity and Security say—”With Novell Domain Services for Windows our joint customers will benefit from interoperability and cost-effective manageability in new and existing scenarios.”

OES 2 SP1—specifics

Novell has a partnership with Microsoft so we often emphasize Windows interoperability. But our capability in OES 2 SP1 goes beyond.

• AFP support and CIFS support provides enhancement for Apple and Microsoft clients.
• Our next version of iFolder has enhanced support for Linux and Mac clients. Additionally, we have new features such as support for groups and multiple iFolders.
• The centerpiece of this release, Domain Services for Windows. The ability for the OES server to manage users and group policies through the Microsoft Management Console.

Domain Services for Windows

This last capability is the big one which calls for additional perspective.

Domain Services for Windows provides sophisticated authorization and authentication in a Windows context. Windows users can access an OES 2 server using native Windows protocols. Additionally, with this capability, we have cross-authentication between Active Directory and Novell eDirectory.

Let’s talk about what this provides to Windows users. Simply, it allows users in a Windows desktop environment to take advantage of Novell back-end services and technology, without the need for a Novell Client on the desktop. Administrators have the option to perform certain file system and directory tasks, as well as centrally administer SAMBA shares. IT departments have fewer desktop images and one fewer component to manage on the desktop—equating to lower IT budgets.

With GroupWise 8 users improve productivity. Let me tell you how.

Consistent with Novell’s brand promise of Making IT Work as One, GroupWise 8 has major enhancements in interoperability. There is an exhilarating expansion of collaboration metaphors. We integrate social networking into GroupWise. And we simplify administration and security.

Let’s look under the covers.

Collaborating “With Others as One”

Despite a keen focus on the Linux desktop in GroupWise 7, some features were more advanced with a Windows environment. With GroupWise 8 we’ve fixed this inequity and cater equally to Linux users. Linux on the desktop is becoming increasingly common as hardware vendors offer more systems with Linux desktop preloaded.

GroupWise goes beyond Linux and Windows. The popular Mac client, and the Web access client have also been refurbished. Bottom line is that for Linux, Windows, Mac, and Web access clients, there are interoperability enhancements: multiple calendar management; multiple e-mail account management; tools for organization, search, and notification; and sophisticated tagging capabilities.

Interoperability is not limited to desktop. GroupWise servers run on a choice of operating environments and support multiple mobile endpoints. Taken together, we take interoperability to a new level.

Collaboration is more than email

We added collaboration paradigms (such as Web and IM) in the past, but recently – with social networking and unified communications taking off – the breadth of collaboration metaphors continues to expand. Typically, when a new paradigm emerges, customers initially want it standalone. Users explore the technology – but do not immediately deal with complex issues such as integration of disparate systems, security, and management. For example, we recently created Teaming + Conferencing as a standalone product.

As the capability matures there is a need to integrate. Users don’t want disaggregated solutions for mission critical situations. IT Managers cannot tolerate lapses in security.

Accordingly, GroupWise 8 broadens the sets of collaboration paradigms integrated into GroupWise. Users browse team workspaces directly from the GroupWise 8 folder tree, or add Teaming web panels to their Home View. They right-click on team folders to instantly launch an e-mail to everyone in the group. They subscribe to Teaming calendars and RSS feeds. And the GroupWise 8 address book will automatically populate links for any users with personal Teaming workspaces. With a single click, GroupWise users access these workspaces to see what their peers are doing.

Aside from this, GroupWise 8 integrates other collaboration metaphors that have reached maturity. Users add wikis, blogs, RSS feeds and Web pages to their Home View. They publish their calendars and busy search across multiple e-mail systems. They turn contacts into valuable business relationships.

Advanced server functionality and systems administration

I started with the GroupWise client because that is how users experience the product. But much of the “magic” – the functionality and rich user experience – is enabled at the back-end: Calendar enhancements, easier connectivity to the Internet, and interoperability enhancements require capability in the GroupWise server.

GroupWise 8 also has “install” improvements to make the overall experience of using GroupWise 8 superior to GroupWise 7 or competitors. GroupWise is the collaboration system-of-choice for openness, interoperability, enterprise quality, secure email, and collaboration.

Novell is investing in Workgroup solutions

We are proud of our GroupWise 8 release. Equally, we are investing more broadly in our Workgroup portfolio. Please see an earlier blog about our Teaming + Conferencing capability. And we are preparing for our next major investment to hit the market – OES 2 SP 1.

Most of my topics are about Novell’s externally facing strategies and products. These are driven by key internal processes such as Novell’s implementation of Integrated Product Development (IPD) (that ensures we are prioritizing features appropriately), and Engineering Excellence (that assures process discipline that guarantees schedule and quality.

In our dynamic industry we require focus and encouragement on innovation. After all, Novell was founded on innovation. With constant change in customer needs, core technology, and available infrastructure we must continue to remake ourselves.

Innovation comes in many varieties
We innovate in the large – by taking groundbreaking products to the marketplace. We innovate in the small – by empowering all engineers and employees to perform their function with autonomy.

We have many initiatives that give the focus on innovation. Aside from detailed product innovations that I write about regularly, some of our efforts include:

• Participation in the Open Source community – the software industry’s innovation engine. Our pure open source efforts such as openSUSE, Open Office, Mono, etc. are great examples of this. But we also introduce open source into our mixed products.
• Hack week, which we introduced over a year ago and continues to be a source of innovation.
• We measure innovation. Our patents are an indicator that we are creating new knowledge. At the same time, Novell uses patents in a defensive way, by being founding members of OIN, and participating in the Electronic Frontier Foundations efforts against bad patents.
• Recognition. We recognize our top innovators with the Distinguished Engineer title. Last year we took it a step further by naming our first two Novell Fellows.

Breakout move initiative
In 2008, we have introduced a new initiative called the breakout move initiative. Here we spread the innovation net further – to reach everyone in the company. We asked people to write about a candidate new product which would take the industry in a new direction.

The response was fantastic! In roughly one month time, we received 265 ideas for new areas. We will select a small number of the proposals and incubate them as new businesses within Novell. We are currently in the middle of the selection effort – and will continue to develop and expand the selected proposals.

We did more than ask for submissions. We also conducted workshops – idea factories – at our major sites. We set aside time at each of our eight largest development sites and had innovators coach people to further develop their ideas. The Chief Technology and Strategy Officer of our Open Platform Solutions business unit – Nat Friedman – personally traveled to five sites in three continents to stimulate dialog and discussion. We demonstrated to ourselves the bright spark of innovation that lies within us.

Disposition
No company has the funding to simultaneously develop 265 ideas – nor would it make sense given the need for focus. In reality, many of the ideas overlap, and several of them don’t require the creation of a brand new product team. In many cases it is a new feature of an existing product, or a new market focus to take an existing product to a new set of customers. Those ideas will be absorbed into our regular business, using our IPD process.

We will select a small number to actually chart new courses for our company. In the end, we will demonstrate this bright spark of innovation – not only to ourselves – but to our other stakeholders – our partners and customers.

Last week Novell announced a definitive agreement to acquire Managed Objects, a leader in Business Services Management, and developers of incredible technology in the area of Configuration Management Data Bases. With this we continue to build a strong portfolio of open management solutions for the interoperable data center. We are staying true to our two-pronged strategy of excelling in Enterprise Linux and IT Asset Management with a strong focus on interoperability. As my colleague John Dragoon commented last week this further strengthens Novell’s brand promise of Making IT Work as One.

What should our joint (Novell and Managed Objects) customers expect both today and over a longer period of time?

Job #1 – Continue the strong focus on BSM

As I mentioned with our Platespin acquisition, we acquire a company because we endorse their strategy! In the case of Managed Objects, Business Service Management (BSM) has become the primary method that customers use when they relate management of their IT resources to business processes. It has been included in every Systems Management presentation from Novell for years. Managed Objects has already brought BSM to a sizable number of customers, and was a pioneer in this market. We will now use the Novell sales ecosystem to make Managed Object’s solutions more widespread.

When I visited the Managed Object team in Virginia several months ago, I was so impressed I nearly fell out of my chair! I had long known that the company had an outstanding Configuration Management Data Base (CMDB) technology, and that this was the basis for their disciplined approach to management. But I learned that this was surrounded by deep analytics, well designed graphical user interfaces, and technology that scales to large environments. That is why our immediate focus is to bring this to a larger set of customers.

Job #2 – Leverage the technologies for our traditional ZENworks platform

We have been continuing investing in the ZENworks platform to refresh the capability for customers. ZENworks Configuration Management Service Pack 1 was a substantial release. Managed Objects brings new capabilities to Novell: connectors to other systems, reporting capability, analysis, and rich visualization interfaces. Expect us to integrate these capabilities into our existing platforms.

Job #3 – Optimize the next generation data center

In talking about our acquisition of Platespin I mentioned that “Novell now has an opportunity and strategic intent to optimize the virtual data center” based on the Platespin technologies. My point was simple: if you combine Novell data center capabilities (such as ZENworks Orchestrator) with Platespin you have unique capability: rich function and support for interoperability.

The technologies from Managed Objects have the clear potential to round out this data center solution. With a Configuration Management Data Base we can more easily link the management of all resources. With the analytics and reporting tools, we can further enrich the functional capability. And with the visualization technologies, the complex task for an adminstrator becomes quite easy and natural.

For the immediate term, we will focus on further popularizing BSM, and enhancing ZENworks. But, look for data center optimization to provide a decisive lead for Novell over time.