The widely criticized Microsoft Corp.-Novell Inc. interoperability agreement has been a success, Novell CEO Ron Hovespian said.
Hovespian said the deal has worked because most enterprises have both Novell and Microsoft software deployed in their IT environment.
And in order to keep the harmony between two software stacks like JSEE and .NET or between Linux and Windows, he said, Novell will continue to foster a working relationship that focuses on interoperability and efficiency with Microsoft.
“When we started this we knew a bridge was occurring between our products,” Hovespian said. “A lot of projects that were in the pipeline have now started to take off, with one example being Moonlight.
Determined
Hovespian said that while it is difficult to determine exactly which company is actually driving the customer in most cases, Novell netted about “$122 million through the relationship”.
“It is a delicate balance and we understood that going in, but it has definitely worked out from a financial standpoint.”
But the affirmation of its deal with the Redmond giant has failed to come from others in the company. Open-source advocate and Novell vice-president Miguel de Icaza publicly criticized his company’s cross-patent licensing agreement with Microsoft at MIX 08 earlier this month.
Ironically, the affirmation of support by Hovespian coincided with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling – which refused Microsoft’s request to dismiss Novell’s 2004 anti-trust case against the software giant – adds another twist to this saga. But despite these rumblings, it seemed that many of the Novell brass in attendance echoed their CEO’s sentiments and continue to view the technical partnership as a beneficial development for enterprise IT departments everywhere.