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A Netscape spokesperson had this to say about the new company: "Novonyx is an extremely significant venture for Netsca pe because it brings Netscape's technology leadership in Netscape SuiteSpot to the No. 1 server platform in the world. Novell has more than four million servers running NetWare and serving information to more than 60 million users. That is an enormous untapped market opportunity for Netscape."

One thing No vonyx is sure to do is help Novell boost its presence in the Java market. In fact, analysts say, Schmidt--one of the strongest forces behind Java--was lured to Novell in part by the formation of the new venture. Schmidt has said Novell's commitment to Java will increase.

Also uncertain is what Novonyx will mean for GroupWise, the groupware product that Schmidt has called Novell's "hidden jewel." Novell has said it will give Novonyx the right to resell GroupWise and NDS, which Novonyx could integrate with Netscape products.

Novell was slated to introduce version 5.1 of GroupWise--with workflow and imaging technologies added to its basic e-mail and document management capabilities--sometime last month and heavily market that offering against competing products such as Domino, IBM/Lotus Development Corp.'s Web-enabled version of Lotus Notes.

Yet another new version, which will have Java functionality, is expected by the end of the summer.

In addition to GroupWise, several other components of Novell's networking product suite--including NDS--compete with Netscape products, which is why they needed a separate company for this joint effort. Officials of both companies say they can still work together to benefit from the booming enterprise intranet market.

Just the Beginning Wohl speculates that since Schmidt is fond of Netscape, future development ventures between the companies may follow. Novonyx will have at its disposal Novell's huge distribution channel, including more than 30,000 value-added resellers, as well as 1,450 Authorized Education Centers and partners and 200,000 certified engineers.

But questions still abound. At press time, Novell and Netscape were awaiting gover nment approval of the venture before putting a management team in place. As Donahoo says, "a lot things haven't been decided yet." Network managers and chief information officers say it's too early to assess the full significance of the new Novell-Netscape venture. Some are skeptical about Novell's attempts to bolster its intranet business and about Novonyx's chances for abetting that effort.

"Novell has been lacking a vision for corporate computing for several years," says George Orlov, information systems manager at Unicom Corp., a $6.9 billion utility holding company in Chicago. "This seems like a last gasp of teaming up against Microsoft. But Novell is late getting into the intranet market. The company has not embraced open standards, and made IP networking more complicated than it needs to be."

Others are more optimistic and say Novell is moving in the right direction. "We're looking at integrating Internet and NetWare technologies," says Heidi Erzen, LAN manager at Lutheran Medical Center in Wh eat Ridge, Colo., which wants to provide Web-based applications such as information about the latest medical research to users on its 13 NetWare servers. "This move by Novell is important to us."

Bob Violino covers IT management issues. He can be reached at rviolino@cmp.com.