As part of the multi-faceted pact announced Nov. 2, the longstanding archrivals have pledged to develop glue code that optimizes Novell's SUSE Linux-based Xen virtual machines on Windows and Windows virtual machines on Linux.
More important, they have pledged to provide technical support for customers running a mix of platforms and agreed to a "patent covenant" that shields their mutual customers from any patent liability through 2012. Those lingering issues continue to spook corporate users from using Linux.
"This pact is great for customers and validates Linux having a role in the enterprise alongside the Microsoft enterprise platform," said Tom Richer, global Microsoft practice lead at at Binary Tree, a New York-based Microsoft Gold partner. "This move should be a signal to Microsoft systems integrators that Linux does have a role in the enterprise, and they should focus more on setting up integration between the Linux and Microsoft platforms rather than promoting an all-or-nothing story," he said.
"While channel partners who have aligned with both in the past have been criticized by each vendor for partnering with their competition, their agnostic and enterprise-centric view is obviously now justified," Richer added.
Many Novell and Microsoft partners hope the pact will end longstanding integration headaches, while some open-source partners dismiss the deal as a hollow attempt by two proprietary software companies to scare customers away from Red Hat by offering cross-patent indemnification.
Still, many partner executives say the pact should increase sales of SUSE Linux and stimulate deployment of virtualization software, essentially creating a new wave of service and solutions business for VARs, systems integrators, system builders and ISVs with a cross-platform mindset.
The virtualization support has strategic interest for Microsoft and Novell as virtualization technologies disrupt the OS business. Microsoft needs to establish Windows as a virtualization-friendly platform, partners say.
After Novell released SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 earlier this summer, for example, partners and customers said they were concerned about deploying Xen-based virtual machines on Windows servers because there were no stated support promises from either vendor. For example, partners and customers have difficulty determining which vendor is accountable for solving virtualization glitches: the vendor of the Linux machine running on a host or the server software vendor?
"The pact merely symbolizes the importance of virtualization. Certainly, Microsoft wants to own the management and control of [virtualized environments] since the desktop and majority of applications continue to operate best on the Windows platform," said Ken Winell, CEO of ExpertCollab, a Microsoft partner in Florham Park, N.J.
Microsoft heard the mandate from its corporate customers: provide better interoperability with Linux or lose Enterprise Agreement renewals and Software Assurance contracts in the future, some sources said. As part of the deal, Microsoft's own sales force is charged with distributing 70,000 coupons for SUSE Linux subscriptions annually and already has paid Novell $240 million upfront for those contracts.
The deal with Novell, Waltham, Mass., not only took the heat off Microsoft, but also will make life easier for Windows partners seeking to deploy Linux virtual machines on Windows servers and other Linux server and desktop solutions. In the past, Microsoft, Redmond, Wash., has attacked Linux and discouraged its partners from deploying Linux servers.
For their part, Novell partners say Microsoft's blessing will persuade many legacy NetWare customers to migrate to SUSE Linux and entice the massive installed base of Windows customers to select SUSE Linux over Red Hat.
As Microsoft formally acknowledges increasing use of Linux in its customer base, Novell is hopeful it can lure back thousands of former partners that defected to Microsoft's program amid declining sales of NetWare, said Ladd Timpson, global director of channel and partner marketing at Novell.
