Novell quarterly report shows the current product and service mix.
Financial accounting is separated into five groups. Open platform(Suse Linux), system and resources management(IT department), desktop(Gnome) management and virtualization(to operate other operating systems) software(Zenworks), identity and security management(intranet and Internet security), and workgroup workflow management(netware office suites).
If all products and service are equal in revenue, Novell could hit $250 million per quarter. Unfortunately Linux is only $23 million in this quarter. The rest of the revenue should be considered application software above any operating system. Network was for windows. Intranet and Internet packets are also not limited to Linux operating system, they are SOA for mixed IT department enterprise system. So, we expect three out of five products and service will grow, and two may be floundering, namely, Linux operating system and desktop and Zenworks(income from Microsoft coupons and Suse contracts in Germany).
So, if Novell tries to sell all software products and services under one product(SOA) then, the future is quite bright. Trying to sell everything under Linux operating system, Novell will miss all the revenue from Unix and Microsoft windows installed base(for netware). To sell under the umbrella of SOA, Novell needs a web creation product which is not Linux operating system(Apache), but an application software that is object technology oriented perhaps using VHDL(very high level design language) and Ajax(Google style).
For Novell to completely reinvent itself, will take two years for building a comprehensive product and service organization. Then the revenue projection is not limited to small and medium size business customers, anymore. |
