Summary: Novell news that pertains mostly to the proprietary side of Novell

Channel

NOVELL made some very big changes in its UK channel recently. Sean McCarry is running the company [1, 2] after the departure of Jacqueline de Rojas and Channel Pro, a UK-based Web site, has this new report about the subject.

Avnet has signed a deal to distribute Novell’s entire portfolio of datacentre, identity and security management, and end-user computing solutions.

[...]

Sean McCarry, country manager, Novell UK, added, “The channel is vital to our success in the UK, and we are committed to working and investing resources with the most suitable partners and distributors to ensure customers receive the best possible service.”

SCO

There have been no real developments on the case, but AutoZone filed some documents and Groklaw reveals that SCO might be hiring a lawyer to take a more independent look at the company. Does SCO have any money left at all?

SCO's new Chapter 11 trustee, Edward N. Cahn, would like to hire a law firm, Blank Rome. Well, honestly speaking, wouldn't *you* want a lawyer, if you were chosen to decide what to do next with the SCO Group?

Todd Weiss, writing for the Linux Foundation's site, could not receive a response from SCO:

A spokesman for SCO could not immediately be reached for comment.

Jeffrey Neuburger, an attorney with Proskauer Rose LLP in New York, wrote a blog entry last week on the most recent court rulings, arguing that it "it remains to be seen whether SCO will survive to press forward with the Novell and other litigations."

In an interview, Neuburger said that "[six] years later, we still don’t know who owns the rights to UNIX."

"In this case, nothing surprises anyone anymore," Neuburger said. "This is an exceptional case, partly because of the tenacity of SCO. Their [poor] financial situation exacerbates it. Then the fact that it involves open source adds a focus or attention that might not have been there, plus whenever you involve a company like IBM or Novell that also adds interest."

Conspiracy theorists have also been watching the case, often questioning how Microsoft Corp. would have been involved behind the scenes, backing SCO against rivals, Neuburger said. "It all adds a lot of attention."

Finance

Novell's latest financial results are still receiving some coverage. Heise says that "sales decline at Novell", but CRN looks at it from a more positive angle.

Product revenue from Identity, Access and Compliance Management products declined by 16 per cent to $28 million. Systems and Resource Management revenue came in at $40 million, down 15 per cent compared to last year, and sales of workgroup products declined by 12 per cent, coming in at $81 million.

Some remark about the role of SUSE, even though it is still just a small component of Novell's ovrall revenue. For example, we have:

i. OStatic: "Is Linux Enough for Novell and Red Hat to Thrive?"

While Novell's report yesterday that its quarterly Linux revenue soared 22 percent year-over-year was a positive note, and one that was expected, the real upshot of the company's earnings report was that every other part of its business sank. Overall, its revenues slipped to $216 million for the quarter, compared to $245 million for the comparable quarter last year. Despite the company's drum pounding about the promise and growth of its Linux business, Novell is a public company that needs revenues to come from more than one aspect of its business.

ii. Ovum: "Novell needs to turn Linux into a foundation for growth"

Novell recently revealed its third-quarter fiscal 2009 results. Although there were no big surprises, the continuing weakness of its overall licence revenues coupled with poor performances from its identity and security management (ISM) as well as systems and resource management (SRM) businesses does not bode well for the future.

iii. Linux Magazine: "Novell Still Profits with Linux"

Just a year ago, proprieters of Suse Linux reported a loss of 15 million dollars. For this reason, Novell cut spending. Jobs fell prey to this spending cut, in addition to the annual fair Brainshare for 2009. The enterprise also axed involvement with the Cebit exhibition for the year.

Coverage around the time of the results was mostly positive as long as the sharp revenue drop got ignored. Novell's stock did not respond well and Novell's 7% fall in share value is still being mentioned.

Novell Inc. fell the most in the S&P 500, losing 7 percent to $4.38. The maker of Linux operating-system software posted adjusted quarterly profit of 7 cents a share, missing the average analyst estimates by 4.1 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

It went on for another few days, but it was not just Novell.

Novell, Inc (NOVL) lost 2.7% or 13 cents to $4.58 after the business software maker said third quarter revenues fell 12% to $216.1 million from $245.2 million a year ago. Net income in the quarter was $16.7 million or 5 cents per diluted share compared to net loss of $15.1 million or 4 cents per share a year ago.

More about Novell's results:

Novell, Inc, the business software maker said third quarter revenues fell 12% to $216.1 million from $245.2 million a year ago. Net income in the quarter was $16.7 million or 5 cents per diluted share compared to net loss of $15.1 million or 4 cents per share a year ago.

This return to profitability comes with shrinkage of Novell.

Novell has reported net income of $16.65m for the third quarter of 2009, compared to a net loss of $15.12m in the year-ago quarter. Revenue declined 12% to $216.08m.

Another last take:

Software solutions provider Novell Inc. (NOVL) reported a swing to profit in the third quarter on lower expenses, despite a 11.7% decline in revenues, hurt by weak revenues from software licenses, and services. Both earnings and revenues, however, were in line with estimates. Looking ahead, Novell also said it continues to see double-digit non-GAAP operating margins for the full fiscal year 2009, barring unforeseen circumstances.

Virtualisation

Novell was mentioned in this press release about virtualisation and also in this one from Xen/Citrix (Novell's PR people add to the hype).

Xen.org advisory board members such as Citrix, HP, Intel, Novell and Oracle have already voiced their support for the XCP initiative...

The Register mentioned Novell in relation to VMware:

The battle for virtualizing x64 servers in the data center is pitting many variants of the open source Xen hypervisor (including versions from commercial Linux distros Red Hat and Novell as well as freestanding versions from Citrix Systems, Oracle, and Sun Microsystems) against VMware's ESX Server hypervisor and, increasingly, Microsoft's Hyper-V.

All in all, Novell's role in virtualisation remains rather minor. Red Hat and KVM received far more coverage this week, but only owing to Red Hat's summit.

Mail and Collaboration

GroupWise is mentioned in some places as a supported option, but apart from that, in the City of Los Angeles at least, GroupWise loses its footing.

In reference to a contract to supply e-mail and productivity apps to the City of Los Angeles that Google has more or less won, at Microsoft's and Novell's expense, Matt Glotzbach, director of product management for Google's enterprise group, recently said that Google's competitors -- read Microsoft -- appear to have had a role in spreading misinformation to delay or prevent Google from getting the city contract.

GroupWise is also being rejected by users at Portsmouth University (UK).

Nearly 30,000 students at the University of Portsmouth have rejected the university's internal e-mail system in favour of Google Apps to communicate and collaborate with friends and tutors and stay in touch with friends and staff.

A spokesperson for the university said students would not log on to the university's Novell GroupWise e-mail system. "They are missing important e-mails and notices, but they will not give up their Hotmail or Gmail accounts," she said.

When it comes to collaboration software, Novell is mentioned among the leaders right here.

# Novell: The company's Feb. 2008 acquisition of SiteScape brought the company beyond email and calendaring -- its core competencies -- and more into the collaboration space. Novell subsequently rebranded SiteScape as Novell Teaming. Forrester notes that the latest release of Teaming adds solid social tools to "very strong capabilities for workspaces and collaborative application development, particularly in the area of workflow."

Identity Management and Security

Some hospitals in the UK appear to be relying on Novell's identity management systems. Here is a new report about mid-Yorkshire hospitals:

The Trust, which has around 7000 employees, is now able to link to the NHS's Electronic Staff Records providing up-to-date, 'same day' information on 'leavers' and 'joiners' to the organisation via Novell Identity Manager. This is not only saving time and resources spent on manual administration, but is ensuring that the system holds up-to-date and accurate information.

[...]

The Solution takes advantage of the Novell Enterprise Agreement that was signed with Connecting for Health (CFH) in 2005, enabling Mid Yorkshire to benefit from licenses purchased centrally for Novell Identity Manager and Novell Enhanced SmartCard Login (NESCM) as well as full product training.

There is also a similar story from the south:

South London and the Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust is using Novell Identity Manager to manage the user accounts of more than 8,000 staff.

The following new audiocast speaks about "security assurance and trust in cloud computing." It is part of Novell's PR efforts.

People and Partners

The Worcester Business Journal has this little piece about Sameer Bhat, a man behind eClinicalWorks. He used to work at Novell beforehand.

Career highlights: I began my career at Integra Microsystems, where I served as a lead engineer for developing web-based document management software, later moving to Novell Inc. to develop applications for remote desktop and network management. Both of these positions helped lay the groundwork for eClinicalWorks.

Novell's relationships with other companies are also mentioned in some promotional pieces, including the usual bunch from Autonomy.

Misc.

A second edition of a guide titled "Convergenomics" is being put together for publication and Novell turns out to have played a role in it.

The latest edition includes new contributions from key ecosystem participants, including BLADE Network Technologies, Brocade, Fulcrum, Juniper Networks, Novell and Oracle, in addition to previous contributions from Cisco, EMC, Panduit, Scalent Systems and VMware.

In this new roundup about certifications, Novell's SUSE certification receives a mention.

Novell Releases SUSE Linux Enterprise 11 Certification Novell recently released new versions of its Novell Certified Linux Administrator (CLA) and Novell Certified Linux Professional (CLP) designations keyed to SUSE Linux Enterprise 11. As part of this, they are offering the CLA exam at 25% off (use promotional code CLA112009 when you register at Pearson VUE) through the end of 2009. The regular price is $125. The CLP 11 exam is not available yet. CLA objectives can be found on Novell's CLA web page.

Over the past year or so there has been little news of considerable substance coming from Novell. This week's summary serves to reinforce this belief. And it's no summer vacation anymore. ⬆