Building Bridges: A New Way of Doing Business
Novell and Microsoft cooperate to meet the needs of customers.
A year ago, Microsoft and Novell entered into a strategic agreement that, at first glance, sounded like scores of other alliances announced by businesses each year. The two companies promised to cooperate across a broad range of technology, patent and joint sales and marketing efforts.
But this particular agreement was different in many key respects. On a technical level, the companies committed to work together to help solve what has been a major source of frustration for many large business customers: getting different kinds of computer operating systems to work well together. The companies also agreed to join in a unique compete-and-collaborate approach to sales and marketing so these advances in interoperability can be effectively delivered to customers.
This wasn’t a simple matter, since Microsoft and Novell sell competing operating systems. Historically, competitive forces have trumped customers’ need for “mixed-source” software to interoperate.
Yet, both Microsoft and Novell saw an opportunity. What if they continued to compete for a customer’s business, but also really tried to understand the client’s needs and do whatever makes the most sense—regardless of which company “wins” or “loses” the sale? From the customer perspective, such an approach makes obvious sense. In a highly competitive business environment, however, it rarely happens.
Novell and Microsoft decided to go for it, and one year later, the results are striking. Customers ranging from Wal-Mart to BMW to the City of Los Angeles have signed agreements that have the two companies working together to create computer systems that interoperate in the ways each customer needs. Sometimes this means Microsoft sells more software. Sometimes it means Novell gets more business out of the deal. It consistently means that customers are able to sit down with both Microsoft and Novell and jointly explore a wide range of technology needs. Often the result is more business for both companies. Always, the result is an improved mixed-source environment for the customer.
To further enhance the value they deliver to customers, Novell and Microsoft have opened an interoperability lab in Cambridge, Mass., with engineers from both companies working together on new technologies. And in their agreements with customers, Microsoft and Novell have addressed another pain point: assurance that the customer won’t be drawn into legal disputes over intellectual property (IP) in the software they deploy and use.
“We have wanted information technology vendors to deliver true interoperability and IP assurance between multiple platforms for some time now, and we are pleased that Microsoft and Novell are committed to fulfilling that need,” says Nancy Stewart, senior vice president and chief technology officer for Wal-Mart. “The net result is a win for us and, more importantly, for our customers.”
For Microsoft, Novell and their customers, it’s a win-win-win situation.
