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

To: Frederick Smart who wrote (24458)	11/23/1998 10:05:00 PM
From: DJBEINO	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 42771

Schmidt Gets Troubled Novell Back On Track (Investors Business Daily 11/24/98) Date: 11/24/98 Author: Lisa Wirthman Eric Schmidt has gotten once-struggling Novell Inc. back on its feet. Two years ago, Novell was reeling from management upheaval, severe delays on software releases and a distribution network flooded with its products. But analysts say Schmidt has turned the company around since taking over as chief executive in '97. As a sign of Novell's progress, the company's long-awaited Internet update of its flagship software, NetWare 5.0, finally began shipping in September. Now the company is turning its focus to updating its Novell Directory Services - a central place to manage and store information about users and other data in a network. Novell is the only software maker offering such a product. Rival Microsoft Corp. isn't expected to ship its network directory for Windows NT until the end of '99. Schmidt talked to IBD about his experiences in turning the company around and how he plans to move forward. IBD: When you first took the reins at Novell, many analysts had nearly given up on the company. What was your worst moment? Schmidt: It's all a blur, to be quite truthful. I think the low point was probably in August ('97), when we cleaned out the (distribution) channel and we didn't know if revenue was going to come back or not. When we did the actual (cleaning), the numbers were worse than forecast. . . . That was clearly the low point. IBD: Was there a best moment? Schmidt: I think the high point, at least in historical terms, was the sales meeting that occurred in November of the same year. What happened was we got in front of the sales force, 1,000 strong, and I figured they'd be kind of depressed. But they were pumped. I was blown away. The reason they were pumped was that they now thought that their strategy was achievable and that on an individual basis, each of them would be successful. It was at that point that I knew that we would make it. I didn't know how well, but I knew we would make it because I saw the underlying engine that I had to work with. I remember thinking, ''Boy, this is an enormous responsibility that I have.'' I remember saying to somebody, ''If I screw this up, it would be a great tragedy.'' There are very few sales forces in the software industry of the size and capability that Novell has. I view that as something that is well worth preserving. IBD: When you first started at Novell, you sought the advice of a lot of other chief executives. What advice would you now give to someone walking into a similar position? Schmidt: The first advice I would give them is: Don't do it. I mean, I think that's the correct advice. It's not a normal thing to do in your career. But I have a notebook of what everybody told me, and I would make photocopies of the notebook and I would take people through the rules, because there is a formula. The successful people now know all of these. It's like one of those secret guilds. The single best advice I got was to get it all done fast. That advice was the best advice, and it was universal. Everyone said it. It was correct. So a more serious answer is that you have to get control of the company and you have to get it going fast. Take everything in the first quarter, clean everything out, get everything organized, get your message out and then hope to hell you're right. IBD: What other steps did you take to prepare yourself for the job? Schmidt: I think that the single most important thing that I did is that I realized that I was in over my head. I did not know what to do. It's a truthful statement. And so I developed a plan based on people's advice and my own views and now, believe it or not, I know what to do. So it's the process of not knowing what to do, developing a strategy and winning that gives you enormous confidence to take the next step. The initial pain was a necessary part of becoming a more effective leader, which is not what I would have told you two years ago. IBD: What did the launch of NetWare 5.0 this fall mean to Novell? Schmidt: It's the end of one epoch and the beginning of another. I think up until we shipped NetWare 5.0 we would be described as a good networking company that had missed the Internet. I think now with NetWare 5.0 shipping, people can say, ''Here's this interesting new player that has this enormous networking legacy that's now shipping state-of-the-art Internet products.'' IBD: What's the next milestone you're trying to reach? Schmidt: We're now entering what I would describe as a second phase. (It's) of similar duration to the first phase, one to two years. During that phase, what we're going to do is take the notion of (a network) directory and spread it everywhere. Everything we do will be designed to promote the notion and usefulness of directories on networks. Every product, every initiative, every customer contact, every strategy, every partnership will be directory based. The reason is that we have an enormous competitive advantage in our directory today, and it's getting larger with the next set of products we're bringing out. So it's the use of the directory that will ultimately differentiate us. IBD: Directories are still hard to explain to customers. How will you get your message out about what directories can do? Schmidt: My experience with customers is that they listen carefully to the directory pitch but they don't really act until there's an application that actually uses it. So what you're going to see over the next six to nine months are products that use the directory to solve various networking problems. As an example, we just announced a product called Zenworks 1.1. It's a Year 2000 product. You turn this thing on and it does an inventory of all of the hardware and software you have on your network and builds a (central) directory tree. It tells you whether your devices are compliant or not. We are the only ones who do this through a directory and put (these data) in a (central) place that you can then manage and distribute software against. (C) Copyright 1998 Investors Business Daily, Inc.

To: Frederick Smart who wrote (24458)	11/24/1998 9:27:00 AM
From: dwight vickers	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 42771

Huh? You're becoming incoherent as you attempt to be clever. You're the one who decided to "dance on the graves" of those you deem "wrong" because the market is going your way. Funny you weren't dancing and shooting off your big mouth in August. I don't remember being here saying you were an idiot then. Try a little maturity. But I say you dance too soon. When you should be thinking clearly and analytically, while lightening up. I'll explain it to you some day. Dwight (Even though your type will always find excuses)