Novell shuns alliances
Struggling software company says
it can grow its business alone
October 29, 1997: 1:20 p.m. ET
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LONDON (Reuters) - Novell Inc., the struggling
computer network software company, said
Wednesday it doesn't need to recruit a big partner or
alliance to expand its business.
Novell, a subject of recent takeover rumors, saw
its shares jump in August on speculation that
International Business Machines Corp. was about to
make a bid for the company.
But Novel chairman and chief operating officer
Eric Schmidt told a news conference that big
corporate tie-ups aren't on the cards.
"We are one of the largest software companies in
the world. Size does matter, but with our resellers
and other partners we are a huge, huge operation. I
do not see the need for big partners, but I do see the
need to seek out smaller partners to drive the
business on," Schmidt said.
In its fiscal third quarter, ended July 31, the
Provo, Utah-based company reported a net loss of
$121.6 million compared with net income of $58.8
million a year earlier. The loss in the most recent
quarter included a restructuring charge of $55 million.
Schmidt, who took charge at Novell in April, laid
off 1,000 employees during the quarter to cut costs.
Although the company has a huge installed base of
companies that use its Netware networking program,
it has been facing increasing competition from
Microsoft Corp.'s rival Windows NT network
software.
Schmidt expects Novell's fortunes to improve.
"My primary focus is on strategy and marketing,
getting the next generation of our products out. That
will make our shareholders very happy," Schmidt
said in reply to a question about the company's
performance in the current quarter that he declined to
comment on.
Schmidt said Novell's two most exciting products
are BorderManager, which replaced some
telecommunications products, and NDS for NT.
"We have high revenue goals [for
BorderManager] and we are exceeding that,"
Schmidt said.
NDS for NT is a computer networking software
product designed to piggy-back on Windows NT,
due for shipment next month.
Novell has said it is changing its focus to take
advantage of the Internet to give it wider appeal as
electronic commerce becomes available to mass
markets. |
