12.12.09
Novell News Summary – Part III: AutoZone-SCO Case Ends, Financial Leftovers, Partner Academy Launched in India
Summary: The latest catchup with Novell news that might not affect GNU/Linux in any direct way
NOTHING particularly special can be seen here this week, but the SCO case is worth starting with because of some key issues.
SCO
The AutoZone case seems to be over, as decided several weeks ago. SCO still reads Groklaw (maybe it heckles the Web site a lot less after this strategy backfired) and Pamela Jones has proof.
Words to live by. So, lawyers do read Groklaw. We knew that, including SCO’s, but so did SCO’s management. SCO executives have smeared Groklaw and me from here to Kingdom Come for half a decade, so we knew they had to read it. But it is the first time I’ve seen a bill for reading Groklaw.
Well, quite a few Novell employees regularly read Boycott Novell. They mostly lurk.
Here is the latest update on SCO’s bankruptcy.
We find out now what Ocean Park Advisors has been doing on SCO’s behalf since they were hired by the Chapter 11 Trustee Edward Cahn. Submitting a bill for $196,002.50. Gulp. For six weeks’ work. When you see the breakdown of their bill, in the attached Exhibit A, you’ll see that they have been going over the company with a fine tooth comb.
Their job is to try to save the company, and let’s face it, that’s a job for Superman. But you know what? If paying professionals could save SCO, it would have happened already. SCO is Kryptonite, y’all. And indeed, by my reading of the bill, there is no salvation in sight just yet, despite all their hard work. I guess the advisors and hand holders will just have to keep their noses to the grindstone, trying to crack this nut, until every last penny SCO has is gone. After all, we don’t want to give up on SCO too soon.
Finance
Novell’s bad results are an issue that we wrote about before [1, 2], noting that the company lost over $200,000,000 in 2009. Novell’s Jeff Jaffe rewrites the strategy, but it remains unconvincing that a turnaround is afoot. Here is a new analysis of Novell and also additional coverage of the financial situation:
• Novell’s losses widen despite Linux gains
Novell Inc. said its network-software business contracted in fiscal 2009, while its open source-based product line continued to garner a larger portion of the company’s revenue.
For the fiscal year ended Oct. 31, Waltham, Mass.-based Novell booked net revenue of $862 million, versus net revenue of $957 million in fiscal 2008.
• Linux is only bright spot as Novell reports loss
Sales of Linux products provided the only area of growth for Novell in its fiscal year ending 31 October 2009, as the vendor reported a decline in revenues.
• US Stock Futures Jumps On Upbeat Jobs Report, Take-Two (NASDAQ: TTWO) Eyed
• Novell posts wider 4Q loss on charges
• Novell 4Q Loss Widens On $279 Million Charge, Lower Revenue
• Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News
• 3 Stocks That Blew the Market Away
Just as Red Hat (NYSE: RHT) has found a lucrative niche in monetizing the Linux platform, Novell needs to get over NetWare and throw a little more muscle behind its open-source initiatives.
• Novell’s losses widen despite Linux gains
• Novell and Marvel Announce Earnings
• Novell Stumbles, Eyes New Strategy
• Novell posts Q4 net loss of US$256mn – Regional
• Novell posts wider 4Q loss on charges
• Novell, Inc. – Financial And Strategic Analysis Review – New Report Published
• Novell’s Earnings Beat (more from Zacks also here: Novell Q4: Earnings Beat, But Revenue Lower)
• Table of Unusual NASDAQ Stock Moves From Townsend Analytics
• Novell fourth-quarter loss widens to $255.7 mln
• Big Lots, Monster Rise; Take-Two Plunges
• Novell widens loss in weak Q4 and year
• Stocks Futures Point To Substantial Rally Following Much Improved Employment Data – U.S. Commentary
Software solutions provider Novell Inc. (NOVL) reported a wider net loss for the fourth quarter, hurt by goodwill impairment, and restructuring expenses. Looking ahead, the company provided revenue outlook for the first quarter, which is estimated to beat the Street expectations.
That’s all we have managed to find, but there is likely to be a lot more.
Virtualisation
In a speculative piece, Hess opines that Novell might buy Parallels next year.
The other noteworthy announcement made at VMworld was the purchase of Parallels by Novell. This move wasn’t as much of a surprise as one might think. It actually fits in well with Novell’s SUSE Linux offering, their Platespin product and controversial partnership with Microsoft. It’s a wise move by Novell and plants them firmly as a major force in the virtualization space.
The PlateSpin acquisition was mentioned in this article several days ago:
The Holy Grail is for someone to come along with a management tool that can handle such mixed environments. There are people working on such tools, including PlateSpin before Novell acquired it.
Groupwise support in the BlackBerry Curve gets mentioned again along with a this new GWAVA release and GWAVACon sponsorship. There was nothing else of interest.
Identity Management
The previous post covered some of this, but there is more about identity management in the following pair of news articles:
• The New Cloud Crowd – Three Trends for 2010
Next, I saw a Computer World article about Novell and their product for Identify Management in the cloud http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9141830/Novell_vows_first_identity_management_for_cloud_virtualized_apps?taxonomyId=145 . You remember Novell, the makers of NetWare, Groupwise and more recently the purveyors of SCO. This typifies the second major trend for the cloud for 2010 – Any technology product that can be cloud-enabled will be cloud-enabled.
In other insurance technology news, Western & Southern Financial Group, Cincinnati, has agreed to use the Novell Access Governance Suite and Novell Identity Manager systems from Novell Inc., Waltham, Mass., to automate and improve compliance processes.
Security
Apart from some iPrint vulnerabilities [1, 2, 3] there was this:
Supporting flexible software over too secured software, Eugene points out, “remember IBM OS or Novell? We they disappeared.”
Seems like a loss for words.
People
A new CodecSys manager is being appointed with a little bit of Novell baggage:
Broadcast International (OTCBB: BCST) (“BI”), www.brin.com, today announced the addition of Steven G. Jones as senior vice president and general manager of the CodecSys division. He is responsible for all development, sales and marketing, and strategic direction for the division.
[...]
He has also held the position of CEO at Auction Trust Network and Solera Networks, vice president of products & business development at Vykor, and executive roles in product management/sales/business development at other companies including Mosaix, Netegrity, DataChannel and Novell.
Another case of Novell roots:
He has also held executive positions at Legato, Novell and WordPerfect Corporation.
Google’s Eric Schmidt was captured in the spotlight a few times because of something he had said. The Microsoft crowd (Paul Thurrott for example) takes advantage of a tactless remark and pays tribute to Schmidt’s Novell roots.
Google CEO: Privacy Doesn’t Exist in Online Age
And he should know, since he’s ostensibly running the company that’s responsible for this state of affairs. Google CEO Eric Schmidt, previously responsible for such runaway success stories as Java and Novell, found himself in a bit of hot water this week when he opined on CNBC that “if you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place.”
More on Schmidt at Novell:
• Google CEO backs Obama recovery plan
The Google CEO grew up in Northern Virginia and joined the Mountain View, Calif., company in 2001 after a stint as CEO of Novell and chief technology officer of Sun Microsystems Inc. Mr. Schmidt indicated that business inventories and corporate profits were looking better, including at his own employer.
• EtherJet does the Google Wave
Wave seems to be of keen interest to CEO Eric Schmidt, who has called it “the future of collaboration.” Schmidt has been pushing the idea since the 1990s, when he was best known as the “father of Java” over at Sun Microsystems, before he was recruited to be CEO of Novell and long before Google made him a billionaire.
In 1997 Schmidt left to head Novell ( NOVL – news – people ). A powerhouse in corporate networking, the Orem, Utah company had also been sideswiped by a Microsoft offering that came with a lot more features and ties to other products. Novell countered by trying to add its own Apps business, but its $1.5 billion acquisition of WordPerfect Corp. proved a botched affair. Three days after Schmidt started the job he was told that an expected $20 million profit on the quarter was really a $20 million loss. He fired 1,000-plus people and logged 250,000 miles a year selling Novell’s software, overseeing a return to its core directory business. Novell’s stock rose sevenfold, only to collapse amid the dot-com bust and continued onslaughts by Microsoft.
Partners
Novell is making partners in India and launches Partner Academy.
Novell announced the launch of the India Partner Academy, a training programme designed to empower Novell’s partners in India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan in selling, distributing and supporting all of Novell’s solutions in the areas of Data Centre; Identity and Security and End-user Computing.
From CIOL (India):
Novell is our national distributor for the embedded OAS and it plays a big role in rapid development of our products,” said Sutane.
In South Africa, a company called Xepa gets closer to Novell.
Cape Town’s Xepa Consulting is putting its Novell specialty to good use as it has been brought in to assist in a major systems upgrade for the Datacentrix client KWV.
Also of limited interest:
The software supports HP servers and storage running Microsoft Windows®, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server from Novell, and Novell Open Enterprise Server for Netware and Linux.
Novell was mentioned very briefly in some press releases and other pages. Novell typically gets covered when lists of companies are given.
Marketing
The Waltham-headquartered company is using so-called “success stories” to increase interest in its proprietary software products. Novell is also mentioned in the latest Linux News Log.
Novell has released yet another BrainShare 2010 advert (we mentioned the previous one last week) and in response to the claim that it is the “Worst IT commercial ever!” Novell answers: “It’s NOT a commercial. It is just a little video series that we created to go along with the Year 2010. This was nothing more than a play on the number 20 and the number 10. In the case of these videos 20 weird things these two guys do in 10 seconds.”
Utah
The Novell campus in Provo was hosting another local event, which received the usual type of coverage.
The Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum’s annual UVEF Awards event is Thursday from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the Provo Novell Campus, Building A.
The Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum (UVEF) today announced winners of the 2009 Annual UVEF Awards. The awards recognize Utah companies and leaders for innovation, business growth and contributions to the entrepreneurial community. Award recipients were honored at ceremonies held today at the Provo Novell Campus.
Next week ought to be a quieter one. █
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