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Novell casts object proponent Stone in key strategy role

Network World, 8/18/97

Eric Schmidt had no illusions about trying to turn around Novell, Inc. by himself when he came aboard as CEO in April. He wasted little time cleaning house among the executive ranks and now is handpicking his management team. Novell recently named former IBM executive John Slitz as vice president of marketing and just last week tapped Object Management Group (OMG) Founder and CEO Christopher Stone as vice president of strategy and corporate development. Stone spoke with Network World Senior Editor Christine Burns last week about Novell's future and where object technology fits in to the company's plans.

Q. How dire is Novell's situation?

A. It's not dire. The whole industry move toward distributed objects as an infrastructure is forcing a lot of companies that have made their money on real fast protocols to take a look at their strategy. Novell obviously fits that model. Since the bar has been raised, what do we do about it? The advantages Novell has are a huge installed base, really talented people and good products. It just needs strategy, direction and partnerships to move it off the dime.

Q. How big a role will the OMG's Common Object Request Broker Architecture and object technology in general play in Novell's future?

A. It will be huge. The nice thing about this new position is that I don't have to change my view of the world. My view has always been distributed computing and network services using objects. There are a lot of people in Novell down in the ranks going "Uh-oh. I guess this is where we are going." And that's OK. That is why I want to do it and why I think Novell is going to be really well positioned to take advantage here.

Look at the two guys Novell's got now. Me, the biggest proponent of distributed objects. And look what Eric did with Java. These are the two biggest open computing platforms in the past eight years and both of us are now together in one company. That's a pretty powerful statement.

Q. With Novell's history of delivering proprietary technology, how well suited are its products to accomodate standard object technology?

A. I have some work to do. This is the classic capitalism issue where you work on new products but you don't pillage the customer base. There is a huge customer base that Novell has that needs to be maintained and for which the current set of products work. They work well, they are fast and they do the job.So it's a strategy of migration in some form and interoperation with new products in other cases. That is what object technology does best. It helps you integrate legacy systems with the newer systems that you are trying to build.

Q. If you have a NetWare/IntranetWare network now, what does incorporating object technology actually mean?

A. Simply, Novell's past and current business has been in providing a platform for networks and adding services that specifically enhance that platform - like file, print, and NDS - not as separate distributed services.

Novell must create demand for a series of services, based on object technology, specifically Java and CORBA, that continue to support and interoperate with the current platform. But the company also has to provide a more open, rich development environment for new applications.

Q. What will it let customers do that they can't do now?

A. Well, you want the same set of services available for a variety of operating environments including NT, Solaris, embedded and realtime systems. We're all tired of writing applications 10 times for 10 platforms.

It means open, interoperable, portable, scalable and safe. Couple this with speed and ease of development and you get a cross-platform , cost effective environment. How cost effective? Well, with the growth of the Internet, the cost of connecting computers has risen exponentially. The ability to develop objects that execute across the enterprise is required in this new programming model. It also allows us to encapsulate historical systems into the environment while we are building new applications.

Q. Microsoft is making its Distributed Common Object Model work transparently with its operating systems. Does Novell have similar plans with CORBA?

A. Yes, you will see Novell make IntranetWare a distributed object platform. Novell has been working with Visigenic Software, Inc. on object broker technology. So you will see a significant thrust in distributed objects within the Novell platform.But you will see other things as well. We are talking about distributed services, not just having it buried inside an operating system. This isn't just file and print any more. It's things like security services, transactions and then services like audio/video streaming technology for telecomunications. Anything out there can be a distibuted object services. It is like the old pop gun movie. Everything is a target.

Q. Will network services translate into better financial numbers for Novell?

A. That's one of the ways to do it. Will that make Novell a $3 billion company next year. No. It will have an impact but it will take some time.

This is a turnaround situation. We have got to work with the installed base. We have a migration/integration issue. We have got to add more tools. We have to do a better job in developer relations.

It's crossing that line of maintaining a revenue stream of existing products while building new products and getting new revenue from those. Managing that line is really hard.

Q. What other areas you will be focusing on besides object technology?

A. Partnerships, strategic relationships, developer relations and Java. I would venture to say that Java is going to play a huge role in Novell's future. Particularly the virtual machines.

Q. In embracing CORBA, will Novell come out stronger vs. NT and DCOM?

A. NT is an opportunity. Do I think we will come out stronger against it [because of CORBA]? No. But we have to find an opportunistic way to utilize NT as part of our strategy.

Q. What kind of effect and how big of an impact has Eric made in terms of industry perception that he is successfully turning this company around?

He has had an incredible impact in just five months. I wouldn't have done this otherwise.

He has had an enormous impact on how existing customers and potential customers who would have just discounted Novell in the recent past, are now coming back and are talking to Novell about their future networking strategy.

Q. You and John Slitz, the new vice president of corporate marketing, are the new blood in the growing turnaround team. What other pieces does the team need, in your opinion?

A. Strategy and marketing together are a pretty big piece. You know as well as I those were the missing links.

But there are some other folks that Eric and the board are looking at. I can't comment on that but I think you will see a couple more players. Eric has pretty much got the nucleus together.