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Technology Stocks : Novell (NOVL) dirt cheap, good buy? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Frederick Smart who wrote (28091)	9/14/1999 10:43:00 AM
From: ToySoldier	Respond to of 42771

I would agree that the message from Michael Simpson is a bit confusing, and I might be wrong in my understanding of where Novell is going with Digital-Me, but... I understand that there are two entities that will be promoting Digital-Me in Novell. There is Digital-Me the sellable product, and Digital-Me the offered Internet Service. I believe Michael Simpson represents the "product". The new Business Unit called "On The Net" will be deploying and marketing the "Service". The only thing I can figure out is that since the new Business Unit is extremely new and still under-staffed, there is currently no representative to explain how Novell's new Internet Services business unit will deliver Digital-Me the service - to the market. I do know that the new "On The Net" team is very under-staffed and they are ramping this team up as quickly as possible. This team must have a "service" mentality more so than a "product" mentality. The solution development, marketing, SLA criteria, delivery, etc. for a service is completely different than for a product and Novell's current inventory of Novell staff are not as experienced in marketing a service. So taking too many staff from the Novell organization would prove less successful because of their limited experience in delivering a service to the market. They need people with service skills. A good example of Internet startups that have neglected the need to focus on Service is EBay. They are learning real quickly the lessons of maintaining an extremely high SLA for their service - for the sake of their company's health. Hopefully Novell's Digital-Me service is taking notes on the errors of EBay. Sorry - I digressed. My point is, I think Michael might be only representing one marketable aspect of Digital-Me. I dont think we have yet heard from Novell's Digital-Me - the Service. Just my predictions / guesses. Toy

To: Frederick Smart who wrote (28091)	9/14/1999 10:59:00 AM
From: David	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 42771

It seems to me that this is a good opening move by Novell. Don't underestimate the scope of these potential deals. They have millions of online customers banking with them -- I think in the neighborhood of 5 million for First USA via its ownership of Bank of America. And they have themselves been very committed to Internet and security solutions, so Novell is moving them from the competitor category to the client category, and establishing DigitalMe's presence with a bang. Further, since I play the biometrics angle, I'll tell you that First USA and Citibank are a good fit there, too. Citibank has been quite involved in biometric pilots, and Bank of America is currently running a small in-house biometric smart card pilot. Both Novell and B of A are using Identix as the biometric supplier, so there is compatibility there, as well. Microsoft is behind here, and an initial biometric security and privacy advantage will accrue to Novell and its partners. As for hiding behind skirts, let me ask you this: Would you rather trust your proprietary personal information to a familiar fiduciary like Bank of America, or to a big unfriendly Microsoft (or even Novell)? The goodwill and trust built up by the banks and credit card providers has real marketplace value.

To: Frederick Smart who wrote (28091)	9/14/1999 1:10:00 PM
From: Scott C. Lemon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42771

Hello Frederick, > I really think infomediaries will be the keys to our Digital > Future. I think a public version of DigitalMe CAN scale up to the > required level if Novell comes out with the right approach. I agree completely ... andthe most difficult thing many people can't recognize is that "infomediaries" does not necessarily mean "big corporations" or "the companies we look to today." Instead, it is the realization that anyone can be come an infomediary, and that people who are not even on the map today will be the powerful new-comers to this market. > For in this next wave we will see more and more information and > data being unlocked from the command & control power structures > that defined successful Old Business models. And DigitalMe could be > a key technology catalyst. But the target has to be US - consumers > - not THEM - traditional companies. Exactly! IMHO, it is the software company that creates products which allow anyone to become a trusted intermediary that will succeed. It is when this capability becomes a commodity that the real growth will begin, and the new entities will evolve ... Scott C. Lemon