Quick Mention: The 3 Novells That Failed and the One Successful Legacy

Dr. Roy Schestowitz

2008-02-20 11:40:18 UTC
Modified: 2008-02-20 11:40:18 UTC

Can't get a fifth chance amid inevitable recession

Mister Var Guy Joe spoke to Novell's newly-appointed Global Channel Sales VP, who replaced a guy that had quit the company a few months ago (among others). He actually makes an excellent observation by dividing up Novell's lifetime into separate 'eras', each of which saw a different level of success.

During its prime in the early 1990s — call it Novell 1.0 — the company had a robust channel organization and 60 percent server market share. Software, hardware and VAR partners eagerly displayed the “Yes” logo as a sign of their commitment and support to Novell NetWare. Then came Novell 2.0 — the mid-1990s, which was highlighted by several failed software acquisitions like Unix Systems Labs and WordPerfect. Novell 3.0, according to The VAR Guy, involved a flawed consulting push built around 2001’s Cambridge Technology Partners acquisition.

Novell rests on its laurels (or savings) from 1.0 days, but it appears like the company runs out of money more quickly than it wishes you to believe (cooking the books also). Interestingly enough, the same goes for Microsoft, which is on a similar boat where it fails to reinvent itself. Maybe those two companies make a good pair after all. They could share a tombstone and lower their expenses this way. ⬆

Comments

James McDougal

2008-02-20 12:06:29

I'm curious - why do you care about Novell so much Roy?
Roy Schestowitz

2008-02-20 12:14:21

Novell's deal with Microsoft poses great risks to the future of Free software, to which I dedicated a great deal of my time at the expense of other things. You can explore the site to receive answers to the question: "how does Novell (+Microsoft) harm Free software, including GNU/Linux?"
Mark Fink

2008-02-20 16:15:16

James, why the concern? Do you work for Novell? Get your trolling arse back to greasing Microsoft's axle.
Roy Schestowitz

2008-02-20 16:33:59

James is posting from Singapore, which I find suspicious.

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