11.05.08
Going Out of Business Together with Novell
Never bet on dying shops
Novell will acquire Managed Objects pretty soon, but the prospects of this move are strongly being doubted. A few days ago we gave one example (down at the bottom) and the following new article warns that businesses which bet on Novell for BSM could suffer the same fate as Novell (diminishing business).
Novell’s move into the business service management market makes competitive sense for the company. However, with entry-level pricing starting at $100,000, and many implementations topping $1 million, it’s an odd fit for Novell’s focus on small and midsize businesses.
[...]
BSM solutions are not only complex, but also expensive. Pricing typically starts at $100,000 and can quickly move into seven figures. How many of the small and midsize businesses Novell has been courting are willing and able to buck up for BSM remains unclear.
To be fair, Novell is not the only lost company which still struggles to find its way out of a downward spiral involving 'legacy' products they cannot replace. Sun Microsystems is in a similar position and Matt Asay even makes the comparison between Sun and Novell.
Will open source save Sun…in time?
[...]
I then proceeded to explain open source’s role in rejuvenating Novell’s fortunes, but that it took several years. It also helped that Novell wasn’t dealing with as big a gap as Sun has between existing (but declining) proprietary revenue and new (and increasing) open-source revenue.
In another article about Sun (from the ‘Microsoft press’), its acquisition of MySQL gets a mention, not just Novell and SUSE.
MySQL acquisition could open new opportunities for Sun. The 11 million users of the open-source database generally run it on Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Windows and Linux platforms like Red Hat (NYSE: RHT) or Novell’s (Nasdaq: NOVL) SUSE. Sun’s sales force is “meeting a lot of folks that we’re not historically talking to,” said Schwartz. “Very few of them are currently running on Sun infrastructure. We’d like to make a change there.”
For future business, companies should go with a winner. Neither Novell nor Microsoft are in this position. Both are stagnating at a rapid pace, no matter what they say. They are still very dishonest and secretive. █
“Did you know that I left Novell 11 months ago? I’m not part of the “Novell marketing people” that you seem to think I am. I parted ways with Novell for the very same reasons that you cite about the MS agreement–not its evilness, but the careless disregard for the people that the company never bothered to consult (including me).”
–Ted Haeger
Highlight: Novell was the first to acknowledge that Microsoft FUD tactics had substance. Novell then used anti-Linux FUD to market itself. 
Highlight: Xandros let Microsoft make patent claims and brag about (paid-for) OOXML support. 
Highlight: Linspire's CEO not only fell into Microsoft arms, but he also assisted the company's attack on GNU/Linux. 
Highlight: Microsoft craves pseudo (proprietary) standards and gets its way using proxies and influence which it buys. 
Highlight: The invasion into the open source world is intended to leave Linux companies neglected, due to financial incentives from Microsoft. 
Analysis: Xen, an open source hypervisor, possibly fell victim to Microsoft's aggressive (and stealthy) acquisition-by-proxy strategy.