Novell updates network management software

Novell Inc. today unveiled a new version of its ManageWise network management software that will support Microsoft Corp. Windows NT and Novell NetWare servers as well as mixed desktop environments.

Novell also announced that it will license LANDesk 2.5 source code from Intel Corp. and incorporate it into ManageWise. LANDesk is the product of a joint development agreement between Novell and Intel. The source code transition will be completed at the end of this year. For users, "it means better integration and accelerated product delivery," said Shelley Dougery, director of marketing at Novell's Management Product Division.

ManageWise 2.1, expected out Aug. 1, is geared toward mixed Windows NT and NetWare environments, which are becoming more evident in the government, Dougery said. Support for Windows NT comes in the form of a management agent add-on to ManageWise. Novell ported its NetWare agent to NT so "the user interface is portrayed the same," Dougery said. "And it fits under our road map to provide management across platforms." ManageWise lets administrators manage both NT and NetWare servers from one console, she added.

On the desktop, ManageWise 2.1 supports IBM Corp. OS/2 and Microsoft Windows 95 clients and, by the end of the year, Windows NT clients.

Next year, ManageWise will provide Java-based client network management so any client can act as a management console, "so an administrator can walk up to the desktop and through the browser get ManageWise information," Dougery said.

"It's good to see Novell return its attention to ManageWise," said Jamie Lewis, president of The Burton Group. "There were questions about ManageWise [for the] long term, and this fixes some of those issues. It makes a longer-term strategic statement about Intel technology."

The agent for NT lists at $595 per server. ManageWise 2.1 starts at $795 for a five-user server license. Anyone who upgrades from ManageWise 2.0 to 2.1 can upgrade for $400 per server, regardless of the number of users.

Meanwhile, users who bought ManageWise between April 15 and July 15 get a free upgrade to 2.1.