As Novell conitues to wallow in irrelevancy, Messman finally made a significant organization move. He axed Stewart Nelson.
This speaks well for Messman. Stewart has not been good for Novell at all. Stewart is obviously a skilled polititian, but not a strategist or technologist. Novell was doomed to continue in its current spiral under his leadership.
However, Messman is neither a strategist nor a technologist. He is also disconnected from Novell’s history. The solution to Novell’s problems is not going to come from Messman. It appears that he understands this problem and has re-hired Stone to design a strategy. Stone is both technically adept and a solid strategist. However, he too is disconnected from Novell’s history and core competence.
The question is, can Stone finish up the job of cleaning out the Nelson legacy (more heads to roll) and come up with a viable strategy soon enough to make a difference. The fact that Stone took his money and walked in the middle of things previously leaves this answer up for question.
Here is my assesement: Stone, unlike Nelson, at least seems willing to listen. If so, that is good for Messman and Novell. There is still a huge mismatch between Cambridge’s business model, and Novell’s business model, this mismatch is yet to be resolved. Cambridge was a vendor independent consulting firm and Novell was an independent software vendor. Collapsing the two makes no sense. To correct this mismatch, it means even more change and disruption in Cambridge and Provo. Obviously the core business at Cambridge has got to go.
Things get even uglier. While the core Cambridge Technology business is likely to tank, Messman and Stone are both based in Mass. Nobody seems to want to move to Provo to run the core business. Novell is likely to be more embroiled in its own mess than dealing with market realities.
An actual strategy for Novell has yet to emerge. At the same time, there is incredible untapped talent and technology at Novell. I love a good paradox.
As an optimist, I always think it is never too late. But to date, Novell is like the Latin America of Software Companies: the leadership is more interested in lining their own pockets than creating a long term strategy for a country capable of holding its own.
At least it will be interesting to watch and blog about.
