Dana Blankenhorn: Novell is 'Massaging' Its Financial Figures
- Dr. Roy Schestowitz
- 2007-09-05 07:35:15 UTC
- Modified: 2007-09-05 07:35:15 UTC
As you probably know, Novell has been in a
poor financial state in recent years and it also
missed Wall Street's expectations earlier this year, not to mention its risk of being delisted -- a risk that it eventually escaped. There was something very fishy about Novell's latest financial report and we are fortunate enough to find people who
look at the numbers more closely. Here is what it's all about:
Novell is also good at PR. It has been talking about desktop Linux being just around the corner for years, without delivering anything worthwhile. No wonder I get such a hit to the numbers here for mentioning Ubuntu.
This continuing game of massaging numbers and expectations, rather than delivering solid performance or solid software, hurts the whole open source market.
Having covered Novell for two decades, I’m frankly tired of it. Wall Street, not so much. As long as there is action Wall Street is happy.
There is no room for opinion here, so there's no need to say "hats off to Dana" or "you ignorant blogger". What Dana is trying to say seems to align pretty well with what we've been seeing in recent months. In fact, given Novell's inability to compete with Red Hat (it was only
left further behind after its deal with Microsoft), any optimistic claims from the
financial department are highly suspicious.
Comments
Alec Baldwin
2007-09-05 08:56:42
FUD
Roy Schestowitz
2007-09-05 09:04:59
Alec Baldwin
2007-09-05 13:54:32
I enjoy reading commentary about Novell and other IT vendors, but I tire of fud-spreading, self-regarding, self-publicising people like you.
From reading [proper] analysts reports of Novell's Q3 performance, they have delivered a slightly stronger than anticipated quarter. Haven't set the world on fire, but didn't set an expectation that they would, or that they wouldn't. That's pretty much it, is Dana annoyed that Novell delivered a slightly stronger than anticipated quarter? Apparently so. And then asserts, that it's all smoke and mirrors, it's "fishy". Companies in a post-Enron world, don't post fishy numbers. They are just the numbers.
Saying something like "very fishy", without any substance to back that up, is just FUD. You then go on - "There is no room for opinion here..." Of course there is... that's just a plain stupid thing to say. Doesn't the make up of the numbers warrant questions like: Is this a good result for Novell, or a bad result?
"Given Novell's inability to compete with Red Hat..." You defeat yourself at every turn. Do you have any idea which customers have, and are planning to adopt Suse Linux as a replacment for Red Hat? Clearly not.
Tiresome, ill-informed posts like this just serve to remind me to review my SPAM filters...
Roy Schestowitz
2007-09-05 14:09:54
Let's remember that Novell reported a loss (narrower than expected though) and also remember that surveys show Novell staying flat (according to one company's figures) while Red Hat continues to rise sharply.
Novell cannot grow its Linux business as quickly as its 'legacy' income declines. It has money to spend (roughly a billion dollars) and it is willing to spend it on acquisitions, not buybacks, based on Ron Hovsepian's relatively recent interview. Based on that same interview, Novell has cut down its R&D budget. So, are we seeing a growing company? for all I can tell, Novell is the next Unisys. What's worse, this dinosaur liaised with Microsoft to guarantee its imminent extinction. Until then, Novell will be nothing but an abused tool for Microsoft to milk.
Ian
2007-09-05 17:00:27
My point is, there's plenty to rip Novell for, but throwing shit against a wall and hoping something sticks isn't good "reporting" or blogging in this case.