Hello Paul,
> Where have you been Mr. Lemon?
Well ... here? I'm not sure what you are asking. I guess that when I view the market place I see Novell in a better position than many companies that didn't make it. I also see an organized effort by many people to try and change the current perception.
> -1- Let's start with Matthew Leo's comment:
>
> "NOVL is getting its ass kicked and the shareholders are begging for
> relief."
>
> Does that concern you? Or are you one of those people at NOVL that
> believes everything is wonderful except for the size of your bonus?
Yes. It actually concerns me enough to come back to work for Novell to try and make a difference with good old-fashioned work. I'm not sure I understand the second part of your statement. No, everything is not wonderful. Days can be difficult. Life is a terminal condition. As for the size of my bonus, I could care less ... I'm in this for the game. I'm in this industry to change the world. And I believe that at Novell I have a chance to do that.
> You know Joe Marengi has refused to talk to us directly, don't you?
No. I'm not sure who "us" is in your reference. I'm sure that Joe, while doing his job to try and make things happen, has had to evaluate every request for his time, and determine which would seem to make the most sense. Can I ask what other presidents have met with "us" upon request? I'd like to better understand the requirements to be placed on the new BOD and CEO.
> I would suggest you ask him why?
If I have the opportunity I will. And I might even make some effort to do that so that I could better understand his logic for determining how to prioritize all of the issues that confront him from day to day.
> Is it that he attachs the same low priority to addressing
> shareholder concerns as he does to the value of
> the stock as stated in the official list of priorities for the
> company.
I'm not sure about this, but from my understanding and learning about business, if you take care of all of the other parts of doing business correctly, and honestly, the money will come. My personal philosophy has recently changed to not focus on the money, but on all the other important stuff that causes the money to be created.
> Investors in NOVL have been burned. Get it Mr. Lemon.
I too am an investor. And I consider the game not over yet!
> -2- Where is Novell's marketing strategy for the non-directory
> enabled server market? You know (the small business servers that
> VARS sell)the market that NT is eating for breakfast, lunch, and
> dinner every day while Marengi pretends all is well?
This is acutally a facinating area of debate, and I have spent many hours discussing both tactics and strategy around this market. I was around back in the ELS NetWare days and spent many days and nights dealing with non-dedicated NetWare.
I know that you seem to have strong feelings about this, I would greatly appreciate your input as to how to best address this market. I know that the IntraNetWare for Small Business is making some headway, but I don't agree with your premise about "non-directory enabled server market". I don't believe there is such a thing. I often state that one day people will wake up and realize that directories will impact the world far more than the world wide web. It's difficult to teach a marketplace about something fairly radical, but directories are about to change your life in ways that you can't imagine! I would hate to invest a lot of time and money in a "non-directory enabled server" ... I don't believe there is a strategic story there. Our competitors have started to realize this. Please correct me if I am wrong ...
> If you've got a clue on this please let us know. Perhaps you could
> persuade MR. Marengi to articulate some strategy other than "sharing
> the market with MSFT". I haven't heard anything about MSFT
> wanting to give NOVL any share have you?
At this point I think that Novell has exited from the "desktop operating system" marketplace. We seem to be gaining a lot of momentum towards the support of Java terminals (or PCs), but I'm not sure that corporate America is ready to accept this as the "desktop OS of choice." Because of this it appears to me that we will *have* to share the market with Microsoft. I'm writing this to you on WindowsNT connected to a NetWare network ...
> ========================================================
>
> We need a new BOD just because there are too many people like you
> MR. Lemon who work for Novell and just don't seem to understand who
> you are working for. If you can be as complacent as you are (look
> at the stock!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and not get your ass kicked then
> obviously we need somebody to kick it.
Wow ... I do detect some hostility! I'm not sure how I got to be the enemy in this conversation ... imagine that ... just by asking questions? I hadn't imagined that an organized, professional group of people, who are trying to influence the future of a $1B+ corporation would react like this. You seem to enjoy the media attention and press, however when I offer you an opportunity to answer some fundamental business questions (as a fellow shareholder) you seem to react as though this is a bad thing. Come on. This is our chance. We have the world watching. Let's demonstrate some real coordination and thinking behind this effort! Well ... unless it doesn't exist ...
> PS. There are a number of posts on this thread that answer all of
> your demands for "proof", if of course you take the time to read
> them, which you obviously haven't. And that's why you're getting
> this response.
Well ... I've read a lot of the thread. On and off. But I figured that an organized effort to make things better would include some sort of a game plan beyond "get a new BOD." I assumed, obviously incorrectly, that I was going to learn how a well planned management strategy was discussed, documented, and executed. I guess not.
Scott C. Lemon |
