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Will Novell's Upcoming Embedded Systems Technology Change Your Life?

Novell's NetWare Embedded Systems Technology (NEST) is an ambitious part of CEO Bob Frankenberg's Pervasive Computing vision. So much so that if Novell is successful, the technology may very well change your life. The idea behind NEST is that by making a very small (probably 100 KB or so) network-aware operating system, everything from printers to microwave ovens can be made a part of a NetWare network-or at least communicate via IPX with other NEST-capable devices.

Take printers, for example. Right now, the amount of smart interaction you have with your network printers is limited and spotty. Some vendors give you tools to monitor parameters such as toner and paper level, but others let you fly blind. The same is true for hubs, modems and fax servers. With embedded technology, all of these devices can reach a common level of functionality. Novell's vision goes far beyond the corporate LAN, however. The company has set a goal to network a billion people. The only way it'll do that is with technology like NEST. Novell envisions your home security and environmental control system being tied into NEST, as well as factories and warehouses. Everything will be networked, and speak NetWare.

Novell has competition in all of these areas. In the environmental arena, Johnson Controls and Honeywell are significant players. On the shop floor, Allen Bradley, Square-D and others are well entrenched. In the corporate network, the battle cry is Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), and of course there's always Microsoft. While we think SNMP is probably the most ripe for replacement, Novell will meet significant resistance to a proprietary standard on all of these fronts.

If Novell is really serious about this, it'll have to partner with major players in each of these markets and consider developing a standard allowing for competition to NEST by compatible products.

We've all seen the vision of the home of tomorrow. It turns on lights as you enter a room, changes environmental conditions with simple voice commands and much more. NEST is the sort of technology that can make this vision real. Novell has a lot of experience in creating small yet functional networking modules. It may actually be able to pull this off. But technology will be only a piece of a NEST success story. Proper marketing and partnerships will be key. Ignoring the likes of Johnson Controls, Square-D, Honeywell and, of course, Microsoft will mean quick and certain death for NEST.

Art Wittmann can be reached at wittmann@engr.wisc.edu.

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