Since installing its first network in 1988, the CSIR has made huge investments over the years to enable its divisions to share information. Novell business expert, Computer Networks, has announced an investment in excess of R1-million in Novell products over the past fiscal year.
CSIR distributed computing services manager Randolph Verheij says they chose Novell because of its best-of-breed network technology. "The total investment in Novell products over the years has proved invaluable. Novell`s commitment and especially Computer Networks` expertise has provided us huge cost savings. A recent decision to sign a Corporate License Agreement (CLA) with Novell, on recommendation of Computer Networks, ensured a cost saving of more than R500 000."
Much of CSIR`s decision was based on Novell`s directory services (NDS) which can also support NT and Unix applications where necessary. "We will be making use of products such as NetWare, ManageWise, GroupWise and ZENWorks through the Corporate License Agreement (CLA) which extends our relationship with Novell for another few years," says Verheij.
"Year 2000 compliance across the range of Novell products was a further factor taken into consideration when the decision was made as to which technology would link their more than 3000 users in ten divisions countrywide.
"The CLA has enabled us to effectively plan, manage and protect our Novell software purchases. Novell`s Customer Connections licensing programmes provide the highest levels of customer service and local supplier support through accredited Authorised CLA Partners," adds Verheij.
Although CSIR`s Computing Services division has adequate in-house skills available, Verheij believes the partnership with Novell and Computer Networks is very adaptable and satisfying. "Novell and their partners give the real meaning to the phrase - an information partner. Without them, we would take at least four times longer to manage the CLA because it is complicated and needs high maintenance and even though we have excellent in-house skills, it would be resource intensive."
According to Novell major accounts manager Justin Foxcroft, the CSIR was in urgent need of calendaring and scheduling facilities. "CSIR decided to purchase GroupWise and has been extremely happy with the decision. The low hardware requirements, good return on investment and the low total cost of ownership have made the investment worthwhile."
"GroupWise also offers full-featured Email, document management, web access and remote access, workflow, imaging, conferencing, paging and faxing, forms, voice mail integration and Internet/intranet integration," says Foxcroft. He added that GroupWise is strategically positioned as an 80/20 product, namely 80 percent functionality for 20 percent of the cost. This becomes more apparent when investigating the backend services rather than `bells and whistles`.
CSIR is in the process of standardising its network, both hardware and software, in order to reduce its total cost of ownership. "We are in the process of designing a state-of-the-art Netware network which is managable," says Verheij.
CSIR has purchased ManageWise, the comprehensive management solution that enables one to successfully manage and control an entire network. An open platform based on the SNMP standard, ManageWise allows IT managers to accomplish all management tasks from a single point of administration.
"ManageWise prevents downtime through proactive management and quick problem resolution. These capabilities, together with network protection, effective planning and optimization of network growth, make ManageWise key to reducing our network`s Total Cost of Ownership," concludes Verheij.
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