October 29, 2007

Alternative, from Novell, for Your Small Business Network

In order to operate a network for your small business, you need a central server for sharing files, sharing printers and controlling overall access to your network. There are about a dozen different providers of server software on the market - Microsoft Small Business Server, Nitix, FileEngine, Emerge Core's IT IN A Box and others. Some of these products are software based, which you install on a sever while others are appliances which combine software and a server.

Novell has launched Open Workgroup Suite Small Business Edition, a software server, which combines software for a desktop and server. This is in direct competition with Microsoft's Small Business Server and Novell is competing on price.

Novell bundles a lot of features into their offering. Their press release reads The Novell Open Workgroup Suite Small Business Edition is based on SUSE(R) Linux Enterprise and includes Novell GroupWise(R) for e-mail, task management and calendaring; Novell Open Enterprise Server for storage, print and management services; SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for running applications; SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop from Novell for complete desktop productivity; and the Novell edition of the popular office productivity suite OpenOffice.org for Windows* and Linux*. To accommodate growing businesses, the suite features support for up to five servers and 200 users.

What does this mean for your business?

You get this entire bundle for $350 for 5 users vs $700 - $800 for Microsoft Small Business Server. Price should never be the only consideration when buying software, however, it is indeed part of the overall buying decision. If you have a reseller who can support your Novell installation then your decision to buy from Novell gets even easier. Novell is a solid company who stands behind their products.

Read more about networking on a Podtech.net podcast I did here.

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