Novell To Move License Sales Online.

Novell this week will start letting IT departments electronically purchase, receive, and manage licenses for its software. Through a partnership with BitSource, a provider of automated license-delivery services, Novell will let IT departments procure licenses for NetWare, BorderManager, GroupWise, and other software online. The process can shorten the time needed to order licenses, simplify license management, and potentially reduce software costs. The partnership will let IT departments or their resellers place an order for a Novell product with BitSource, which pulls the license from Novell_s back-end licensing engine. BitSource then e-mails licensing information to the IT department, along with a URL at which details of the license can be viewed. Information on licenses ordered from and distributed by BitSource is stored on a customer-accessible database. Novell plans to distribute apps through BitSource, though the companies wouldn_t specify when this will become available. The online license-distribution service is available at no charge to members of Novell_s Customer Connection licensing program.