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| What Microsoft doesn't want you to know |
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| White Paper |
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Contents | |||||||||||||||
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Introduction |  |
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| Many organizations are faced with upgrading their current, outdated networks with newer technology. Some of these organizations are considering ripping and replacing their current network operating environments with an all Microsoft environment. If you are considering such a move, read this paper before going ahead. Investing a few minutes now could save you considerable time and money in the future. |
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Executive Summary | |
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| Your organization may be considering upgrading your network, and you may think that ripping out your current multi-vendor network and replacing it with a new, all-Microsoft environment is the right decision. If you're considering such a course of action, you need to understand that this approach has many serious risks. What's more, there is no compelling business or technical reason to do so. In fact, after completing the significant and expensive effort to move to an all-Microsoft environment, you may find that you have actually lost functionality. Listed below are just some of the risks to which you expose your organization by the switch to an all-Microsoft environment. Gaping Security Holes
Exorbitant Costs
Lock-in to Single Vendor
1. http://online.securityfocus.com/vulns/stats.shtml |
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Migrating To An All-Microsoft Environment Is Fraught With Risks | |
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Security Risks Security is an overriding concern in business today. Major security issues include unauthorized access to highly sensitive information and disruption of network services due to hackers, terrorists, emergencies and disasters. Windows NT and Windows 2000 have been widely criticized for gaping security holes that open the door to vandals, hackers and terrorists. These environments are highly susceptible to viruses and worms such as Nimda and Code Red. In an attempt to plug the security holes, Microsoft continually releases patches and updates. That means organizations need to install numerous patches and service packs on virtually every server and PC running Internet Explorer (IE), IIS Web servers and on all desktops running Outlook Express email clients. Patches come out almost weekly. Implementing every patch necessary to maintain protection drives up ownership costs dramatically. Organizations are reacting to the difficulties and expense of protecting Microsoft IIS servers by replacing them with other servers. Cost Risks Today, organizations are under intense pressure to implement systems that increase efficiency and cut costs. The economy continues to slump and revenues are dropping, causing budgets to shrink and IT spending to drop. Executives are scrutinizing all IT expenditures for return on investment (ROI). Yet according to most analysts, switching from NetWare to Windows 2000 will cost considerably more than staying with NetWare. Organizations will incur costs related to migration, retraining and data conversion. Moreover, ongoing costs will be higher. Substantial Migration Costs A major problem in upgrading to Windows 2000 is that you have to rip and replace all your desktops, and that's an expensive proposition. Ripping and replacing not only costs a lot, it also takes a substantial amount of time. With more hardware to roll out, most organizations experience delays in deployment. Data conversion and retraining also introduce long delays. Delays hamper productivity within the organization and that ultimately affects your bottom line. Switching to Windows also requires retraining of all administrators
and users-a costly and time-consuming effort. In large organizations
retraining could involve thousands of people, all of whom would
suffer from a loss in productivity during the learning curve. By
simply upgrading to new versions of Novell software, you'll
minimize retraining. Migration to Windows would also require the conversion of multiple databases. For example, GroupWise customers would have to convert all GroupWise server and client directories to Exchange format. This time-consuming task can disrupt email services and hamper user productivity. Higher Ongoing Costs Microsoft's licensing schemes are complex, driving up costs and making management and compliance extremely difficult. An organization must purchase licenses for clients as well as a separate license for every server in the network, including those combined in a cluster. Client access licenses differ-they are offered either on a per seat basis or a per server basis. Server licenses also differ, depending on the edition of Windows 2000 installed on the server. And that's still not the end. Microsoft is changing over to licensing on a subscription basis. After that happens, when a purchased license expires, the customer will have to make additional license purchases and that means additional expense. When customers are switched over to the subscription model, they will have to pay and pay, regardless of whether new features are released or not. Microsoft forces you to upgrade much more often than Novell. Microsoft now supports its products for only three years. Novell, on the other hand, supported NetWare 3.x for 10 years and will have supported NetWare 4.x for 10 years. More frequent Microsoft upgrades translate into higher costs. In addition, Microsoft's reputation for reliability is less than notable. Novell's reliability, on the other hand, is legendary, and the latest Novell software releases drive reliability and availability higher than ever. This inferior reliability of Windows means higher costs. It could also mean less revenue as customers defect to your competitors because your online services are often down. Single Vendor Lock-in Risk Although moving to a single vendor environment is seductive on the surface, it is fraught with risks. That's why most industry analysts recommend looking to solution-based offerings for network issues, in which heterogeneous and best-of-breed solutions resolve the real needs of the customer. Converting to Microsoft locks your organization into a single-vendor monopoly. Microsoft continues to pursue a course of proprietary standards that work only in an environment that consists primarily of Microsoft products. This severely limits choice, preventing you from taking advantage of best-of-breed components. It also results in slower access to emerging technologies. Locking into an all Microsoft environment also locks you in to higher licensing costs. A recent Giga survey showed four of five respondents expected their licensing costs to rise with the Microsoft subscription licensing plan, while only one in 10 anticipated that costs would be flat or dip. The Microsoft subscription program could raise prices anywhere from 35 percent to 107 percent. Microsoft is eliminating Version Upgrades, forcing customers to either repurchase their licenses or buy Software Assurance (SA). What's more, Software Assurance does not include technical support and it will significantly increase the cost of upgrading software licenses. |
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Negative ROI | |
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Industry experts have stated time and again that there are no compelling reasons to switch to an all Microsoft environment. There are no functionality advantages associated with standardizing on Windows. The latest versions of Novell software with eDirectory provide leading-edge functionality that is superior to Microsoft's offerings in key areas, including user management, storage management, Internet printing, clustering and network management. Even more importantly, most companies today are evaluating IT investments based primarily on ROI, yet the switch to an all Microsoft environment comes up short in ROI.
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A More Rational Approach | |
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Contrast the world we just spoke about with Novell's "One net" strategy and NetWare 6 that is indeed a more rational approach. The network is user centric, so users can access it from any device and any location-and still experience the same familiar environment. Servers are centralized and administered from anywhere on the Internet, greatly simplifying management to the point where users can perform many administrative tasks on their own. Network architecture is based on open standards, offering wide flexibility in selecting solutions and permitting seamless integration across solutions. What's more, NetWare 6 is additive! This means customers can leverage existing hardware and infrastructure by deploying certain components of NetWare 6 as services that work with the existing network (e.g., iPrint, iFolder).
The switch to a Microsoft-only environment introduces unnecessary costs and serious risks, yet it offers no compelling business or functional advantages. NetWare 6 is a more rational and cost-effective alternative that eliminates the high costs and considerable risks of the rip-and-replace approach. Low Risk, High Reward The negatives associated with switching to a Microsoft-only environment are enough to make most organizations stop and think. The Novell approach eliminates the negatives of the all-Microsoft approach. What's more, it delivers significant rewards and positions your organization more advantageously for the future.With the Novell approach, your organization will:
The Power of one Net Novell's Net business solutions solve complex business problems and enable you to adapt to-and profit from-the opportunities of today's networked world. Our solutions combine end-to-end professional services with cross-platform Net services software to enable networks of all types-corporate and public, intranets, extranets and the Internet-to work together as one Net. Novell solutions simplify business complexity, secure and protect resources, and extend processes throughout the Net. They enable people and applications to work together and accelerate return on investments. Novell makes the vision and the benefits of one Net a reality for our customers, giving you the power to change in a world where change is a constant. The Best Directory Service Novell eDirectory centralizes the management of user identities, access privileges and other network resources-significantly reducing administrative overhead. Moreover, it enhances your network's scalability and performance in an Internet environment, enabling you to extend network support to customers and partners who use the Web as their primary channel for conducting business. With eDirectory you can use directory-enabled applications to create secure, customized relationships between your network and the networks implemented by your customers and partners. You can also use eDirectory to extend your existing network infrastructure beyond your firewall and cultivate profitable eBusiness relationships. Because the directory provides the foundation for all network operations, it is imperative that the directory on which you base your network provide rock-solid reliability, a high level of scalability and fast performance. eDirectory is the most mature and filed-hardened directory available. It's the industry's most deployed directory service, with over 500 million licenses worldwide. The Best NetWare Yet NetWare 6 is the Net services software solution that brings nonstop access, Net-ready security and high availability to networked information. It enables file, print and other storage resources to be accessed as one Net across all types of networks, storage systems and client desktops. NetWare 6 ensures the nonstop availability of information that can be securely accessed through any portal, from any device, in any location. As a result, you can simplify storage resource management, secure digital assets throughout the Net and ensure the constant availability of enterprise networks and storage environments. Simplified Management Novell is a recognized leader in desktop and server management. ZENworks combines policies, enterprise directory services and comprehensive desktop management features to enable centralized, policy-based management of all workstations. Organizations can save literally millions of dollars by taking advantage of the ZENworks desktop management capabilities. ZENworks for Servers brings policy-based server management, highly scalable server-to-server distribution and full-featured SNMP management to your network, so you can increase your control of local and remote servers while cutting administrative costs. 12. InfoWorld "Don't Call it a Comeback" http://www.infoworld.com/10820tcnware6.xml |
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Conclusion | |
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Bringing your network up to date is a tough assignment. The decisions you make today will have significant impact on your company's future. We believe that Novell's approach offers the most rational solution. It delivers significant business and functional advantages while eliminating the risks of ripping and replacing. With Novell, you can take advantage of leading-edge networking services without incurring the huge costs and risks of replacing your entire software infrastructure. But don't take our word for it. Novell NetWare, eDirectory and other Net services continue to garner praise from industry press, independent analysts and customers. As ZDNet's Steven Vaughan-Nichols says, "If you're already using NetWare, stick with it. If you're not, start thinking about it."13 A ZDNet (UK) article suggests replacing Microsoft IIS with servers that are less susceptible to attacks.14 Web server software such as iPlanet and Apache which have much better security records than Microsoft IIS and are not under attack by the majority of virus and worm writers. (The Apache Web server is included with NetWare 6 at no extra charge.)
13. op. cit. |
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Links For Additional Information | |
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Impartial Press regarding NetWare:
Awards:
17. "Insurer Considers Microsoft NT High-Risk," Interactive Week, Robert Bryce, reported in ZDNet News © 2002 Novell, Inc. All rights reserved. Novell is a registered trademark, and eDirectory is a trademark of Novell, Inc. in the United States and other countries. *All other third-party trademarks are the property of their respective owners. |
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