Novell To Launch Zenworks Software Asset-Management Platform

Novell next week plans to release a new software asset-management platform for Zenworks in the wake of its Tally Systems acquisition, which was completed Monday.

Novell Zenworks Asset Management is designed to give customers a robust tool for tracking software assets and meeting federal mandates and regulations such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The platform somewhat overlaps with current inventory features in Zenworks, but Tally's inventory discovery as well as identification and reporting components are more advanced and will be Novell's standard offering going forward, Novell executives said.

The platform represents a big upselling opportunity for partners, many of which sell Zenworks, said David Litwack, senior vice president and general manager for identity-driven products at Novell. "It's a massive add-on opportunity for the channel," Litwack said during a meeting with CRN at Novell's headquarters in Cambridge, Mass. The software vendor has 38 million Zenworks seats and 30,000 customers, he said.

The asset management software is slated to be available May 2 as an add-on to Zenworks for $33 per seat. It also will be integrated into Zenworks 7, a major upgrade that's due out in June. ZenWorks 7 is Novell's first major integrated management platform for Linux that includes Red Carpet management as well as the software asset-management services acquired from Tally Systems.

Mark Hardardt, vice president and general manager of partners and channels at Novell, said the asset management platform will be an easy sell for Zenworks partners. "Many of our channel partners are strong in resource management, so they'll run with this quickly," he said.

Novell is currently working to move Tally Systems solution providers to the Novell partner program, Hardardt added. The number of Tally partners is small, but those solution providers are highly skilled in software asset-management services, he said.