The history of the world, part whatever – why Windows beat Netware

Dear Bob …

This (“Learning in the wrong direction,” Keep the Joint Running, 12/3/2007, about a Help Desk employee who gamed the metrics) reminds me of what happened to Netware.

A single smart Netadmin could keep a large number of Netware servers running smoothly … but Windows Servers required lots of maintenance and patching and defragging and periodic rebooting by less skilled people.

Manager pay scales are based on the headcount they supervise, so IT managers promoting their own agendas were motivated to get rid of Netware and bring on more Windows servers because they could justify a much larger headcount that way!

To paraphrase other items you’ve publish – you get what you reward … you reward large headcount, managers will tweak things to maximize headcount.

– Networn

Dear Networn …

I have to tell you – having lived through that period of IT history, I really don’t think that’s what happened.

Here’s what I saw:

• Novell developed an important concept … the Directory … and completely failed to explain it to the marketplace.

• The move from Netware 3.x with the Bindery to Netware 4.x with NDS was different enough to amount to a conversion rather than an upgrade. This opened Novell’s customers to other alternatives.

• Whatever else you might say about Windows, administration was easier to learn since it was 100% GUI-driven.

• Biggest issue of all: Novell never managed to position Netware as an application server. The result: CIOs weren’t choosing between Netware and Windows. They were choosing between Windows and Netware plus Windows.

– Bob

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