Novell to revitalise companies with cloud infrastructure

Leading provider for software infrastructure, Novell Inc. which for over thirty years has played a vital role in technology and software development is now looking to provide its solutions to companies in Sri Lanka.

By Cassandra Mascarenhas



Established in 1979 and headquartered in Massachusetts, USA, the multinational was one of the first organisations to focus heavily on software applications and has always been at the forefront in technology development.

Now re-emerging as a powerhouse in the infrastructure space with several strategic partnerships with organisations such as IBM, Dell and SAP as well as through its acquisition of the technology assets of compliance and user management solutions provider Fortefi Ltd. in 2009, Novell continues to forge ahead despite the prevailing rumours of acquisition by a larger entity.

The company focuses on helping people and technology work as one and looks to help customers reduce the cost, complexity and risk of computing on any platform. The transition process to cloud infrastructure is what Novell enables, they then train the workforce and work side by side with them and make the transition easier which is one of their key strengths.

Vice President, Global Alliances Services Provide Team, Asia Pacific and Japan of Novell Inc. Greg Cullen when in Sri Lanka to promote Novell and its solutions amongst local companies in both the public and private sectors, spoke of the importance of switching to a cloud infrastructure and virtualisation space.

One of the main problems associated with the a cloud infrastructure of course, happens to be the issue of security which is effectively handled by Novell who in alliance with the German software corporation SAP offers customers the clarity and confidence required to effectively manage risk across their entire business processes and IT environments.

“When looking at the security factor, we have effectively eliminated around major problems with security which is one of the biggest issues when adopting cloud. Cloud offers great value and increases productivity exponentially,” said Cullen.

Initial feedback from surveys conducted of the market showed that adoption wasn’t really happening however 35% are already consuming private and public cloud services in this year and will probably increase by a further 10% in the next year.

When speaking of the level of adoption of cloud services in Sri Lanka at the moment, there is a already notable use of public cloud infrastructure in the country such as the use of the online retailer Amazon and other similar products.

“There are already organisations in Sri Lanka consuming from the public cloud. Novell is currently working with the private and public sectors as well as local service providers and telcos – we want to enable Sri Lankans with this technology and the best and fastest way of doing so is through such bodies. The services we provide are very applicable to such companies as well as we offer solutions for the sales force, messaging services, disaster recovery as a service, etc,” explained the Vice President.

Novell already works with many huge service providers across the world including China Mobile, Cintel and Fujitsu to name a couple.

Other areas in which Novell will really be a difference is the banking and financial services sector as well as the Government as open source software will play an important role in these particular fields. His sessions with a couple of banks in the country have proven to be quite successful so far, with the managements of the institutions quite keen on making the necessary changes in order to forge ahead with the new technology. “In the Sri Lankan market, I can see organisations adopting virtualisation in production. Novell has technology that will enable them to build their own cloud, not for just one provider as that would defeat the whole purpose of a cloud. A good proposition is multiple cloud offerings which will typically help the business processes by allowing them to get further economies of scale, cost reductions, etc.,” he clarified.

Cullen predicts that it will take companies around six to twelve months to really get going in establishing a cloud infrastructure but commended the companies in Sri Lanka for having an openness and willingness to understand and learn, picking up best practices that will in turn help them to forge ahead.

Novell has also approached the ICTA and is currently in the process of building deeper relationships with them in order to form strategic relationships in the near future.

“It’s not a hype cycle anymore, ICT stats show that over 2.4 billion people use cloud infrastructure. We expect a large adoption of these services and there are already so many so many people consuming some of these products – it’s going to be a very interesting market in six months,” Cullen concluded.