Not so long ago - 7 years past to be exact - I had a much different job. I worked with a team of great folks (Skippy included) on a project codenamed “LINX”. To this day, I have no idea why the company chose that codename. At any rate, we travelled the world (literally) implementing an entirely new global IT infrastructure for the company we worked with at the time. It was, by far, one of the coolest work experiences of my life. We'd drop into a town under the cover of night and spend the next 2 weeks or more replacing every desktop and computer in the place. We'd link them back to the “mothership”, drink all the beer they had and move on to our next conquest. 3 years, 40+ cities, 11 countries. Not a bad way to pass 3 years of my life.
The interesting part (considering my current work situation and employer) is that every single server we left behind ran a shiny new copy of Netware 4.11 and GroupWise 5. Windows 2000 didn't exist yet. Active Directory was some beta project the product group was still working on. We did a fine job with the tools we had. And then Windows 2000 came out...and I couldn't type “down server” fast enough. (A little humor for the Netware “geeks“.) I saw immediately that, although it had its share of warts (every product does), Windows 2000 was a phenominal product and that it was going to cause die-hard Netware shops to re-evaluate things. There was finally a better tool...
Whether Windows Server is still the best choice is often debated and I am on the front lines of that debate each day. Regardless, there are plenty of IT shops looking at moving their infrastructure from Netware to Windows. I'm glad to see that we've finally put together some great technical resources for these folks. A few weeks ago, v1 of the Netware Migration Portal (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/migrate/novell/default.mspx) went live. It's a great resource for customers looking to migrate. Here are some highlights:
Customer Success Story
Provides Netware customer with great success stories and evidence. These cases studies reference savings directly attributed to the migration to AD, Exchange, Office, File & Print, as well as, savings attributed to other aspects of Windows 2003.
Services For Netware (SFN) Toolset free download
Microsoft Windows Services for NetWare 5.03 helps Novell users migrate to the Microsoft Windows® platform by providing a complete set of interoperability services and tools for integrating the Windows 2000 Server and Windows Server 2003 product families into existing NetWare environments.
Services for NetWare White Paper
This document provides information about using Microsoft Services for NetWare 5.03 to migrate and synchronize objects in an environment that includes computers running both Novell NetWare and Windows Server 2003.
NetWare to Windows Server 2003 Migration Planning Guide
This guide is intended for customers planning to migrate all or part of their Novell NetWare environment to the Windows Server 2003 operating system and Active Directory® directory service. Using the utilities included in the Microsoft Windows® Services for NetWare product, allowing them to facilitate directory management and improve data availability by establishing directory interoperability. Best practices for planning and preparing for a migration are discussed and detailed step-by-step instructions for both staged and direct migrations are provided.
Migrating from Novell GroupWise to Exchange Server
White papers, tools, and other resources on this page can help you plan a mixed-mode messaging and collaboration system or migrate from GroupWise to Exchange.
Windows Server 2003 Online Concierge
The Online Concierge is here to help customers locate information about upgrading to Windows Server 2003. Available around the clock, seven days a week (except major U.S. holidays), the Online Concierge is a live person Netware Customers can talk to about their documentation and information needs.
Windows Server Community
Allows Netware Customers to find answers in Microsoft newsgroups, locate non-Microsoft Windows Server communities, participate in chats, and share best practices and tips with your peers.
Migration Newsgroup
Allows migrating Netware Customers to get free assistance from their peers.
Demos
Online Flash demos too assist customer’s understands the Windows Platform and Technologies
Interactive Training and Hands-on Labs
Interactive training modules designed to give the customer a quick, hands-on experience with key Windows Server 2003 technologies. Each module presents approximately 10 minutes of interactive information, which can be viewed in its entirety or as separate exercises as their time allows.