BEFORE Volker Smid left Novell [1, 2, 3], he had been trying to downplay severity of layoffs, which will soon turn out to be pretty serious. Smid was one of the top seniors at Novell, so the way he left bodes poorly as a reflectant upon Novell's situation. Smid just ran away and we realise that "at the moment, things are going out of hand," according to sources.

Smid left to join H-P and it was very odd. It was also unplanned. When a question arose about "big bumps" there was deafening silence because Novell prefers not to talk about it. Smid went on his Christmas holidays and never returned. He just disappeared and this only became evident when popular news avenues covered his departure more officially. It's the usual routine of hiding layoffs or high-profile departures. It's all about controlling customers' perceptions and it was the same just weeks ago when Novell's UK leadership left as well [1, 2].

Novell's PR Director is using journalists to deny further layoffs right now. Microsoft did the same thing a few months before its layoffs broke out. Microsoft lied to the press. Novell might too because they behave alike. ⬆