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

To: tinsoldier who wrote (25193)	1/28/1999 10:33:00 AM
From: waldemar cyranski	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42771

Gentlemen..T.S & Paul......both of you offer fantastic insight,with your posts, to an amature investor/stockholder , its fun culling out the burrs for me ,in as much as I know very little about the technical stuff of NOVELL, but I do enjoy seeing its stock creeping up bit by bit, and there does seem to be an air of excitment that did not exist a year ago ! Ok , I know spring is just around the corner ....and young men do get frisky...ggg just keep doing what your good at....and Thanks for your efforts, Waldy

To: tinsoldier who wrote (25193)	1/28/1999 11:27:00 AM
From: Paul Fiondella	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 42771

The turnaround strategy My understanding of it was outlined in a previous post. First you make sure that Netware 5 has native IP and Novell is pursuing industry rather than proprietary standards. Then you show the company isn't history by building the companies bottom line. Then you show that your core product Netware 5 is state ofthe art. Then you show sales of Netware 5 are ramping up. Then you turn to your partners and leverage the success of Netware 5 into acceptance of NDS as a standard. But making NDS an industry standard will not necessarily follow from this line of reasoning. Clearly the company has been bet on NDS for several CEOs back without much success. The flaw in the strategy is the notion that NDS will somehow become the industry directory standard without some hot product making it a standard. Digital Me has the potential to be that hot product. It could be at the core of internet commerce. But look at some of the responses. Toysoldier wants to spin it off Digital Me into a wholly owned subsidiary. I guess that would be like Microsoft taking internet explorer out of its OS and setting up a separate company to develop and market the product. Not in Bill Gates lifetime! Others have worried about whether Novell's conservative management can understand the possibilities of Digital Me. Well there you make or break the company frankly. I personally think Digital Me is a project with great potential for getting Novell into ecommerce where its strengths are. Perhaps Slitz doesn't understand this yet. Well it wouldn't be the first time the users of the internet could perceive something that the decision makers couldn't. I also think Digital Me deserves the resources and attention within Novell that the product's potential mandates. The opportunity exists to work in partnership with companies at every point in an ecommerce transaction --- from the companies creating the technology for smart cards, through those trying to develop integrated credit card billing systems. This is a vast market. It will not be neglected by Microsoft. I would never say that Schmidt's strategy for turning around Novell is a failure since he is quite aware of the need for a hot product to gain NDS acceptance. The company has been very focused on getting Netware sold. In the strategy that comes first or Wall Street will pronounce his strategy a failure. But Digital Me is what will make the difference. Too many people here like ToySoldier and others still think that engineering a better NOS than MSFT is all Novell has to do. That is completely wrong and has been proven to be wrong. It's a dead end for the company. It's like saying I'd rather die at home than in the hospital. I'd rather save the patient!