Q. Carleton, you've been with Novell for quite a while. What did you do for Novell prior to your current position as director of Worldwide Developer Support?
A. When I started working at Novell in 1986 I was writing Local Area Network (LAN) software drivers for 3rd party LAN adapters. In 1987 I moved to designing LAN adapters and was the principal hardware engineer on the NE2000 and NE-2/32. My next stops at Novell were managing the hardware development team, the certification test development team for LAN and the SuperLab and Software developer support and certification teams. In 1997, I became the director of the combined Novell Labs and Developer Support, which evolved into the current Worldwide Developer Support.
Q. What does Developer Support do?
A. The mission of Worldwide Developer Support is to enable third-party developers to be successful in their endeavor to develop Novell compatible hardware and software solutions. Developer support provides direct development and compatibility assistance and support to the worldwide developer community by phone, in person, and via the Internet. Our clients include applications software developers (ISVs), OEMs, hardware developers (IHVs), consultant systems integrators (CSIs), corporate developers, and strategic partners.
Q. How many developers do you support?
A. We currently support about 147,000 developers, up from 2000 DeveloperNet members in 1997.
Q. What does Developer Labs do and where are the labs located? Can you share a Developer Labs success?
A. Developer Labs (http://developer.novell.com/devlabs/) are located in Utah, Massachusetts, Taiwan, and virtual labs in Japan and the United Kingdom.
We've had dozens of great successes working with large corporations as well as exciting new ISVs. Perhaps our greatest success was working with Yahoo! to integrate Novell eDirectory with the Corporate Yahoo portal. The success of this integration and the benefits it delivered resulted in Yahoo!'s decision to replace the iPlanet directory with eDirectory.
Q. What is DeveloperNet University?
A. DeveloperNet University (http://developer.novell.com/education) is our Web site for providing online developer training. The Developer Education team maintains this great tool for developers.
Q. How is developer interest in NetWare 6?
A. Developer interest has been very positive because NetWare 6 now offers the same Web scripting capabilities as Linux and other popular Web platforms. For example, with NetWare 6 developers don't have to deploy both a Linux server and a NetWare server to get Web connectivity and file and print access. They can now get both from NetWare 6. In addition, developers and customers are recognizing the groundbreaking benefits of iPrint and iFolder, as well as the highly scalable clustering features.
Q. I understand that you work closely with the eDirectory group and associated technologies like iChain and DirXML. Tell us about that.
A. Our work with the Net Directory group has been extensive. They are very focused on developers. We have helped many developers integrate their products and solutions with eDirectory and other directory-based products like NMAS and DirXML.
One other initiative we've been leading the charge on is the eDirectory redistribution program, where ISVs can bundle 250,000 user licenses of eDirectory with their product or solution at no charge. Because of this program, over 41 million new seats of eDirectory have been deployed since June with the number climbing quickly.
Q. The word on the street is that you are an avid biker. Is that true?
A. I do love to bike. I also love to run and swim. Several times a year I put all of my swim, bike and run training together and do triathlons of varying distances. I've registered for next year's Ironman Utah. Hopefully, I'll be prepared for the 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, and 26-mile run that make up that race.
Press Contact:
John Pilmer
Novell, Inc.
Phone: 801-861-2925
E-mail: jpilmer@novell.com
