Bonum Certa Men Certa

Novell News Summary - Part III: Novell Wants BrainShare Renaissance

An E-mail



Summary: BrainShare 2010 hype, some news about GroupWise, Novell Teaming 2, and little more of the rest

SO, the biggest item this week comes from John Dragoon, who exclaims that "BrainShare Returns!"



Last December we took the difficult but correct decision to cancel Novell’s premier user and technical training conference – BrainShare. While most of our customers, partners and employees understood and supported the decision, there was a clear demand and passion for the event to return in 2010.


BrainShare 2009 was cancelled after Novell had planned it and began accepting registrations, only later to cancel it due to poor demand/expected attendance. Will it be any different this year? And if so, why? Novell's revenue only declined further since last year. Novell's industry clout is fading and impact rapidly declining.

In spirit of his personal relationship with John Dragoon, the Var Guy gives it some more coverage and Lisa Hoover then repeats him.

It is possible that BrainShare 2010 too will be cancelled if not radically downsized. It is too early to tell, but Dragoon must show enthusiasm to instill confidence and then market it to people. He is, after all, in marketing.

SCO



Almost nothing has happened in the past week, but as Groklaw puts it, "SCO [is] Ordered to Reply to Novell's Petition for Rehearing."

So Novell's chances were never statistically determined. It is on the merits that such matters are decided, and at a minimum, it's now clear that the appeals court believes Novell's points require SCO to answer.


Finance



Apart from some noise, there is some little signal out there as well. Novell gets listed as a Check Point rival.

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. has an average analyst recommendation score of 2.0 and competes for investment dollars with Novell Inc. (NOVL) [Chart - News - Analysis] and McAfee, Inc. (MFE) [Chart - News - Analysis]---two other stocks in the Security Software & Services industry that have average analyst recommendation scores of 2.3 and 1.9 respectively.


Virtualisation



Dell's role in selling PlateSpin is again being mentioned, this week in:

i. Novell: PlateSpin Virtualization and Workload Management Solutions from Novell Selected by Dell to Manage Customer Workloads and Data Centers

Novell today announced Dell ProConsult Services are managing workloads in customer*s data centers with PlateSpin Virtualization and Workload Management solutions. Dell ProConsult Services help companies quickly and cost-effectively adopt and utilize virtualization technologies to optimize data center operations.


ii. Dell ProConsult using Novell PlateSpin Virtualisation and Workload management solutions

Novell (Nasdaq:NOVL) yesterday announced that Dell ProConsult Services are using Novell's PlateSpin Virtualisation and Workload Management solutions to manage customers' data centres.


iii. PlateSpin Virtualization and Workload Management Solutions from Novell Selected by Dell to Manage Customer Workloads and Data Centers

Novell today announced Dell ProConsult Services are managing workloads in customer’s data centers with PlateSpin Virtualization and Workload Management solutions. Dell ProConsult Services help companies quickly and cost-effectively adopt and utilize virtualization technologies to optimize data center operations.


This is not exactly news.

Mail and Collaboration



While Dayton University goes with Sentinel, Los Angeles is about to go ahead and dump GroupWise, as planned.

In wake of the US $7.25 million plan by the City of Los Angeles to replace scrap its current Novell and Microsoft-based productivity tools in exchange for Google Apps, a new survey lists security as the biggest concern for other government bodies to make a similar switch to the cloud.


A product that's integrated into GroupWise gets mentioned by SKyPRO

SKyPRO USA has teamed with Gracon Services Inc, a leading technology solutions provider based in Michigan, servicing the Midwest to support the demand for the SKyPRO FaxGwise and SKyCOM 4GW, the FAX SW and VoIP softphone client, integrated into Novell GroupWise.


SKyPRO was previously mentioned in [1, 2]. GroupWise support is also mentioned in relation to BlackBerry Enterprise Server.

It will offer BlackBerry Enterprise Server to corporate customers that manage their own email servers. The BlackBerry Enterprise Server software integrates with popular email clients like IBM Lotus Domino, Microsoft Exchange and Novell GroupWise and provides advanced security and IT policy controls to enable secure, push-based wireless access to email and other corporate data.


The press release about Novell Teaming 2 (also here and here) got covered in a couple of articles, namely:

i. Novell Raises Curtain on Novel Teaming 2

Novell has announced the availability of Novell Teaming 2, the capstone to the company's suite of collaboration software aimed at increasing productivity. Utilizing the Novell Teaming search engine and Web 2.0-based communication tools, such as wikis and blogs, Novell Teaming allows users to tap into an organization's expertise and knowledge resources in real time. Users can co-author documents, build workflows to streamline group input, and organize their individual work and team activity in a personal workspace that provides a consolidated dashboard to track and manage all projects and enables them to quickly launch into any of those spaces with a single click.


ii. Novell launches Novell Teaming 2 collaboration platform

Novell announced a new release of their Teaming collaboration platform this week called Teaming 2. The latest version focuses on customization, information access and workflow.


People



Ross Chevalier from Novell is to speak at an event organised by SCO ally and serial abuser/spammer Sys-Con (now suffering a ban). Also from his home country of Canada comes this reference to a different Novell employee:

This 31-year-old software engineer has been working with and coaching remote teams at companies like JP Morgan, 3M, Nortel and Hewlett-Packard since 2001. He's currently a consulting engineer working for Novell (remotely from Cambridge, Mass.) and looking for a publisher for his book, The One Minute Commute. (Learn more at www.zackgrossbart.com.)


Symphony appoints as its Marketing Vice President an ex-Noveller, but it goes a long way back:

Hitchcock brings over 20 years of experience in marketing, sales, and business development for software and technology services companies to Symphony Services. Prior to this, he held marketing leadership roles at GlobalLogic and ClearCube Technology. Hitchcock has also held senior roles at Novell and General Electric.


Novell UK's new channel player, Avnet, elevates a person internally.

Gratton’s role will encompass fixed and mobile telephony, video conferencing, email, IM and voice messaging. Barat will now oversee Avnet’s partnerships with the likes of Oracle, Novell, Plate Spin, Virtual Iron and Lanamark across the continent.


Novell and "Plate Spin" are now the same.

Partners



Eloqua is shown to be connected to Novell, but there is almost nothing else to see here. An article from the local press at Utah uses WordPerfect as a reference in some banal comparison. It's nothing substantial, but then again, nothing truly substantial has happened over the past week.

Adobe Systems Inc.'s planned $1.8 billion acquisition of Utah's home-grown Omniture Inc. would be the largest high-tech deal in the state's history, eclipsing the $1.4 billion acquisition of WordPerfect by Novell Inc. in 1994.

Yet just as important as the money is what such a deal, if completed, says about the state of Utah's high-tech industry and what could happen afterward.


If Novell fails to deliver exciting new products, what might it have to show at BrainShare 2010?

Recent Techrights' Posts

Many Microsoft "Assets" Are Fabricated Baloney (to Game the Numbers)
At times it seems like what we deal with are many weak patents (on algorithms), valuations or speculations based on hype ("hey hi"), and stocks held by Microsoft and its own staff
"Internal Changes at Red Hat / IBM"
It seems like quite a few people are leaving
Confirmed in French Media: Mass Layoffs (10% Culled) in Microsoft France
Now some reports in French
Microsoft in Freefall in Finland
Can Finland eradicate Windows from all its infrastructure, including core operations that are sensitive to sabotage by cracking?
Google's Chrome Passes 70% and Web Standards Are Dying
The Web is quickly becoming devoid of any standards
Slopwatch: Plagiarism and Ponzi Scheme, Bubble About to Burst Entirely, Admits Goldman Sachs
the hype that Google News and The Register MS actively participate and profit from
The Register MS Says "AI Web Crawlers Are Destroying Websites", So Why Does The Register MS Help 'AI' Companies? (Spoiler: Money)
People need to call out The Register MS on its hypocrisy
Slopfarms Already Peaked, They Will Die When Slop Companies Run Out of Money to Borrow
slopfarms will lack an actual "engine"
 
Pleased After 2 Years With team.blue
Moving from a Content Management System (CMS, dynamic) to a Static Site Generator (SSG) was a wise decision that made life so much easier
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is Being Attacked by Organisations Jealous of Its Principled Stance and Longevity
Nobody is perfect, but imperfection does not instantaneously imply sinister intent
If You Reject the Google Verdict in the US, Then You Should Also Reject the "Modern" Web (Do Something About It)
Gemini Protocol is still open; it cannot be hijacked or subverted because it's frozen by design and by intention
Open Source Initiative IRS Filing: Almost All the Money is Corporate, Stefano Maffuli (Executive Director) Takes About a Quarter of That Money for Openwashing of "AI" Ponzi Scheme
OSI is currently little but a PR/marketing agency of Microsoft
Many People Are "Leaving" Red Hat, Even High-Level Managers
Something is definitely going on at Red Hat
Techrights Has Been Subjected to Calls of Violence (and Death Threats), It Never Condoned Violence
I have no sympathy for people who call violence "free speech" and then get in trouble
Condoning Violent Behaviour and "Free Speech"
perhaps Microsoft Lunduke lost touch with what constitutes violence
Takeaway From the Google Verdict: GAFAM Has Too Much Control (Even Over the US Government and Courts With Government Appointees)
Many people feel disappointed but hardly surprised by the verdict
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) Turns 40 in One Month
As noted a few days ago, several times in fact, many people now recognise the importance of the FSF's mission, even if most people don't know what the FSF is
"Voluntary" Layoffs at Microsoft (to Game the Numbers, Sugar-Coating a Crisis)
"Employees interested have until the end of October to volunteer."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, September 02, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, September 02, 2025
Links 02/09/2025: Oligarch Tech and Text Encoding Concerns in Ada
Links for the day
"People on LinkedIn Saying That They've Left Red Hat."
We already saw signs of it a month ago and named some of the people
Gone With the BRICs (or BRICS): "Linux 8" in Cuba
GAFAM must be worried
Telecompaper Reports Microsoft to Reduce the Workforce by Another 10% (in France)
Imagine what this will do to staff's morale
India is Back to Windows 8 (Market Share Down to 8%) as Android Soars to a New Record High
For Microsoft, India is a runaway market
Links 02/09/2025: SCO Summit and Russia Suspected Of Jamming GPS
Links for the day
Gemini Links 02/09/2025: Mediterranean Marriage and Staying Connected at 35,000 Feet
Links for the day
Links 02/09/2025: Attacks on Unions, Microsoft TCO, and DDoSing a Growing Problem
Links for the day
Why We Publish Information About the SLAPPs (But Not About the Legal Process), an Abuse of Process by Americans Trying to Silence Critics of Their Employer, Microsoft
It doesn't take thousands of pages to explain something simple
Internet Relay Chat Didn't Fall Off a Cliff
IRC will turn 40 in less than 3 years from now
The UEFI 9/11 - Part V - This is Not a Drill (Disable "SecureBoot" Now)
A "9/11" Coming
There's No Obligation to Speak to Anybody
The very fact that "bkuhn" is till spending time in social control media says a lot about his poor judgment
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, September 01, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, September 01, 2025
Microsoft Trying to Force People to Resign (Amid Mass Layoffs) a Strategy That Takes Its Toll
Microsoft seems to be circling down the drain and the "final flush" will be the moment the "hey hi" (AI) bubble implodes completely
Google Simply Cannot Be Trusted
Only fools would trust GAFAM
Admission That a Third Party (or Parties) Funds the SLAPPs Against Techrights
This can end up costing them over a million dollars
Modifying and Writing One's Own Computer Programs is Not a Crime (or: Google Proves That Stallman Was Right)
We're generally gratified to see so many positive mentions of him
Why We Stopped Publishing Videos (for Now)
We'll probably get back to videos one day, but it's hard to say when or to what extent
What Animal Rights Activism Teaches Us About Sympathy and Focus
It's possible to believe that the planet is warming, that we must do something about it, and still eat eggs and butter
When You Turn Web Sites About Tech Into Political Sites
A lot of people fall into the trap of catering only for particular groups
Gemini Links 02/09/2025: ROOPHLOCH 2025 and Lagrange 1.19 Released
Links for the day
Gemini Links 01/09/2025: News Corp. WSJ and A Month With NixOS
Links for the day
“Sideloading” Never Killed Anybody
There are many online discussions this week about the misnomer "sideloading"
Slopwatch: Google News as FUD Vector Against Linux and Plagiarism Enhancer, Serial Slopper (SS) Uses LLMs to Googlebomb "Linux"
Slop destroys the Web not just by screwing with search engines and helping plagiarists. It's also responsible for de facto DDoS attacks...
Links 01/09/2025: "Attacks on Science" and China's "Soft Power" Grows
Links for the day
Links 01/09/2025: Fresh Backlash Against Slop and "Norway’s Electricity Crisis is About to Hit Britain"
Links for the day
Writing and Coding Isn't Always Enough
Last year we had to assume a role we didn't have before: litigants
Links 01/09/2025: Catching Up (Mostly via Deutsche Welle), "Windows TCO" Effect in UK
Links for the day
Gemini Links 01/09/2025: Linguistic Barriers and "Web 1.0 Hosting"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, August 31, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, August 31, 2025
Autumn Has Come
Autumn should be exciting in all sorts of ways; it'll also mark our anniversary
The UEFI 9/11 - Part IV - External Interference
They all seem to be playing a role in crushing Software Freedom and self-determination for users