Nortel joins Alliance in software development

Nortel Networks and The Sun/Netscape Alliance are to jointly develop directory software designed to allow companies delivering Internet-based services to enforce policy-based network management.

Nortel Networks and The Sun/Netscape Alliance are to jointly develop directory software designed to allow companies delivering Internet-based services to enforce policy-based network management.

Peter Agnew, director of Internet solutions at Nortel, said directory-based technology will make it much easier for service providers to provision new services and add new clients. "It will make things such as application service provision much easier to resell," he said.

Agnew claimed the software will also allow service providers to enforce various qualities of service across their networks, determined by both user and application.

He said Nortel was looking for a best-of-breed pro-duct and chose the Netscape directory partly because it is already widely used by service providers.Although efforts to introduce new standards usually involve a number of vendors, things can be done more quickly if just a couple of companies work on it, Agnew said.

Sun/Netscape and Nortel will make any new APIs developed openly available, he added.

Based on Nortel's Preside software range, which includes network resource management, billing, service activation and quality of service enforcement, the software will be aimed at multi-vendor environments, with particular attention paid to its compatibility with Cisco routers, according to Agnew.

By giving resellers access to their directories, application service providers will be able to give their partners the ability to resell their services and quickly set up customers. Users will also be able to obtain limited access to the directory, to perform day-to-day management themselves without having to go through the service provider.

- Analysts have suggested the merger between AOL and Time Warner will see AOL handing over full control of Netscape to Sun Microsystems, as the new media giant divests itself of its technology assets.