Attachmate/NetIQ’s acquisition of Novell

I just had to comment on Earl Perkins (Gartner) blog entry on this topic:

http://blogs.gartner.com/earl-perkins/2010/11/23/additional-observations-on-the-attachmate-acquisition-of-novell/

In the midst of all of this of course is the identity and access management impact. I see challenges for Quest Software ahead, since they often go head-to-head with Attachmate-NetIQ for Microsoft centric administration customers. I see some relief for the “Big Three” in IAM now, CA, IBM Tivoli, and Oracle, now that a spoiler in many ways may be out for a bit during the ‘absorption’ phase of acquisition. I see advantages for smaller and more nimble players such as Courion, as well as obvious beneficiaries like Microsoft. What will be interesting to see in the days ahead is the impact this has on Novell partners: Verizon in cloud security, VMWare in virtualization, SAP in IAM, and Deloitte in IAM consulting and system integration. One would expect Attachmate not to shoot the goose that lays golden eggs, but you never know.

First, I take this as a great compliment. A few short months ago Quest Software would never have been mentioned from the perspective of “identity and access management”. That shows how far we have come with respect to IAM especially in light of the acquisition of Voelcker Informatik and their ActiveEntry product. Second, in a perfect world, I would be more concerned about this but fortunately (or not) this is not a perfect world…

1. NetIQ has virtually disappeared from our radar. Sure, the acquisition of Novell could change that but will it?

2. When we do run into NetIQ it is almost 100% because the customer has decided to migrate off of their product versus being in a competitive situation.

3. There will be 12-36 months of “spinning” while Attachmate/NetIQ/Novell gets their respective acts together.

4. The smart people at Novell have been and are currently looking for seats in the life boats and those life boats do not have “S.S. NetIQ” stenciled across them. In fact, we’re already interviewing lots of top quality sales and product management talent from Novell.

So, to Earl, the “Big Three” and everyone else: Game on! (Yes, and to quote Earl again: “And buckle your seatbelts.”)

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