* Novell in 2005 should streamline product mixes and resolve legal matters
Welcome to 2005. Sometime this year, Novell will celebrate 25 years in business – it was founded in 1980 as Novell Data Systems. There have been lots of ups and downs over that time, and I certainly expect more of each in the years ahead. As my contribution to seeing that there are more ups than downs, I’d like to offer some New Year’s resolutions to Jack Messman and Co., and some goals that will help Novell move ahead into real profitability by this time next year.
According to one holiday Web site (https://wilstar.com/holidays/newyear.htm), making resolutions, “dates back to the early Babylonians. Popular modern resolutions might include the promise to lose weight or quit smoking. The early Babylonian’s most popular resolution was to return borrowed farm equipment.” Around Novell’s headquarters in Waltham, Mass., losing weight or quitting smoking might be popular resolutions but way out in Provo – where few smoke and most are in trim shape – returning farm equipment might top the list. Still, those are personal resolutions and what we want today are corporate resolutions for Novell. Here are three, which, while attainable, will require some discipline on the company’s part.
1) Quietly settle the WordPerfect suit against Microsoft (https://www.nwfusion.com/newsletters/netware/2004/1122nw1.html). On its face, it’s not winnable but will certainly suck up large amounts of money and time. If you must fight Microsoft do it on a battleground where you do have some advantage – the server and the desktop.
2) Speaking of the server and the desktop, Open Enterprise Server is due out next month. Be sure that the promised NetWare client for Linux ships before Memorial Day as you’ve been promising. Also, be ready to ship the first service pack before the summer is over. No matter how much you try, there will be problems. Solving the problems and getting the fixes to market quickly will be very important in gaining market share for what could be Novell’s biggest launch since NetWare 5.
3) Do something about your product mix. How many e-mail servers and clients, for example, does one company need to offer? Streamlining the product mix could also serve to focus the marketing channel so that a concerted effort can be made to promote and sell the products that remain. In the past the company has, on far too many occasions, lost focus. If that happens again, it could be the last opportunity for an independent Novell to streamline.
Nothing to hard there, it seems. But it does remain to be seen if the company has what it takes to implement these ideas. We’ll watch and see, then review these resolutions in a year to see how successful the implementation was. Happy New Year!
