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

To: Frederick Smart who wrote (31201)	4/26/2000 7:47:00 AM
From: SmokeyJoesMa	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42771

>>Why can't Novell develop a DIRECT to consumer SALES and MARKETING channel - a la Dell - through which they can evangelize this AMAZING technology<< In the OEM marketing of ICS, Novell has the marketing force and momentum of its OEM partners. Buyers who have held Novell in disdain for years and have migrated entire IT depts to NT and have bought all new servers and workstations from, say, Dell will TRUST that they are buying a caching solution that will be compatible and supported by the vendor. This is especially true if mistakes have been made in the past in dealing with more specialized companies for, say, backup solutions or network management like ZEN- but not ZEN-or other "solutions" to dealing with a large network which may or may not be as stable and compatible as advertised(and especially if there are taxpayers to answer). Specifically there is a Dell rep nearby here chomping at the bit (patiently) waiting for the word that the powers that be are ready to spend more money. Novell either cannot or will not get a foot in the door of this formerly Novell shop. Dell will. I can see this played out in this fashion with any of the ICS partners, and I like the idea that these sales are in the hands of other companies having a real interest in selling solutions to their own customers. I like this idea even more when I think of the hoops Novell's sales make a buyer jump through to upgrade a remaining Novell server-there are just a few left here- to 5.1. My husband asked me to mention this, he's the one tired of the hoops (after doing his own selling from within, the people who made all the NT purchases decided he should do the Novell purchase...he is a CNE in charge of now mainly NT servers and really does not do purchasing). He says the company is doomed if it's always this hard to upgrade. This is not his first disappointment with marketing and sales refusing to recognize the raw necessity of having and cultivating customers. But that is another story and involves the initial decision to migrate away from Novell in 1997-98 - not his decision - as well as a decision to go with Netscape directory less than a year ago. So I for one am happy that someone else will take care of customers for now and make the sales while ICS is still the best solution and the market is so NOT saturated. And I am not in favor of Novell undercutting its OEM partners in order to sell ICS directly. Show me the company can sell first, then sell something else. It seems that most posters agree that marketing could be a lot better so why would we trust that Novell could and would ramp up a direct sales division quickly enough to take advantage of the roaring desire for caching solutions? The usual disclaimers: I am a small investor in Novell(and an infrequent poster on any message board) with an opinion. I am merely expressing that now. Of course I would like to see that investment grow. Now I'm going to go back to lurking.