Novell Looks Beyond The Enterprise

Salt Lake City -- In a bid to reinvent itself, Novell this week is previewing new technology that promises to help individuals securely manage their identities on the Internet.

Novell's digitalme technology was unveiled yesterday at the BrainShare '99 developer conference here. Digitalme is a prototype that lets individuals create and manage their identities and preferences--such as passwords, credit card numbers, phone numbers, bookmarks and other personal and business information--and store it in a single directory.

When the user goes to a Web site or logs into a public or private network, those preferences are exposed. For enterprises, digitalme could be a key enabler for electronic commerce and network authentication, though it remains to be seen if the technology gains critical mass.

Built on Novell Directory Services, which controls the storage, access control and policy management, it will inevitably work across all directories that support XML and LDAP, according to Novell's chairman and CEO, Eric Schmidt. Users will be able to create those identities in either a Windows- or Java-based interface called meCards.

Novell intends to offer the meCards free of charge to consumers, with the belief that in doing so it will fuel demand for NDS beyond its core installed base of NetWare users. Target purveyors of such directories are Internet service providers and portals. Novell envisions it being used in online communities.

"The digitalme technology is the natural outgrowth of our leadership in directories," Schmidt said during his opening keynote address Monday. "It's the next step in the directory. It's putting your identity, what you care about, in the directory as well as all the things you manage."

During a demonstration of digitalme, users downloaded a meCard and filled in preferences. The users can determine who has access to specific attributes in the meCard. For example, if the customer only wants certain individuals and businesses to have access to a home telephone number or perhaps credit card data, that can be specified. "Identity ultimately comes down to how do you create it, how do you manage it, how do you secure it," Schmidt said. "We will deliver on that."

Novell officials emphasized that no products have been announced. Currently, Citigroup and FirstUSA are testing the service. But digitalme could be a catalyst for Novell to expand its business beyond traditional corporate systems and directories.

"The important thing here is they are figuring out ways to leverage the directory beyond just a NOS print-and-file management utility that NDS used to be," said Jamie Lewis, president of The Burton Group. "That will drive NDS sales in a new market they don't participate in." And that, Lewis said, brightens Novell's prospects moving forward.

Even more, if successful, it could be a key enabler for managing transactions moving forward. Still, Lewis, said, Novell lacks a public key infrastructure, a big barrier for the company.

At the same time, Novell is confident that its digitalme effort won't distract from its core business of providing NetWare and NDS to businesses.

And Novell officials admittedly are looking to others as to how digitalme will be a viable commercial entity. "We are in the very early stages of this, so we are not talking about business models," said John Slitz, senior vice president for marketing. "We want to explore the technology.