Microsoft will begin selling its directory technology as a standalone product separate from the Windows operating system.
Microsoft will continue to build in its "Active Directory" as part of Windows, but will give its customers the new option of buying the technology as a separate product next year, Microsoft executives said this week. The directory technology essentially provides a network manager with a central database to store and manage information about users, computer systems and networking devices. Microsoft competes against Novell and Sun Microsystems in the directory- server software market.
Microsoft executives say the standalone version is for companies that want to use directory technology for a specific function, such as a portal Web site for a department, without having to implement the entire operating system. As a result, companies can manage access to software that runs on Windows-based networks much easier, said Jackson Shaw, Microsoft's Active Directory product manager.
The move could be seen as Microsoft's attempt to satisfy those that have accused the software giant of monopolistic practices for integrating a multitude of software into its operating system. But Shaw downplayed the significance of the change in its packaging of directory.
"There is a perception that this could be shift in strategy or a new product line," said Shaw, who emphasized that it's not.
Nine states have continued antitrust litigation against the software giant. As part of a proposed remedy, the states want Microsoft to unbundle software from the operating system.
Analyst Michael Cherry, of Directions on Microsoft, said the standalone product should offer more flexibility to Microsoft customers by cutting down on the need to synchronize data stored in different places across a network, which can eat up bandwidth.
"It removes another objection to using Active Directory," Cherry said.
While Active Directory is already included in the Windows operating system at no extra cost, Jackson would not comment if the standalone version, called Active Directory in Application Mode, will have an additional cost.
Sun and Novell already offer so-called lightweight directory software, so Microsoft is simply catching up with the market, Jackson said. The standalone product will be available shortly after Microsoft releases the next Windows business operating system called Windows .Net server, which is due out by the end of the year.
