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

To: PJ Strifas who wrote (25842)	3/6/1999 7:09:00 PM
From: DJBEINO	Respond to of 42771

Novell To Channel: Shape Up Or Ship Out By Lee Copeland Provo, Utah 3:37 PM EST Fri., Mar. 05, 1999 .............. Novell Inc. is telling the channel to pay up or ship out. Bolstered by double digit sales growth and renewed confidence, Novell plans to announce Monday it will start charging $2,995 per office location for Platinum VAR status. Platinum VARs, however, can avoid paying the nearly $3,000 fee by having their Certified NetWare Engineers (CNEs) certified on NetWare 5.0 by July 1. Novell currently has about 500 Platinum resellers. The Platinum status is the top tier of a three tier classification system. "They want to weed out the non players," said one Platinum VAR. "By paying a few grand, they want to eliminate [resellers] those teetering on edge of selling Microsoft only and leave only the most interested." At issue for the vendor is that the high level Novell VARs use their status to sell Windows NT and related services, not NetWare based solutions. While feedback on the proposed fee has been unfavorable, Novell remains undaunted. "It is not a proactive program to get rid of anybody," said Chuck Meister, vice president of field and channel sales at Novell. "We looked at our channel, and we're providing more support for resellers that have more Novell focus. We're putting the wood behind the arrow, so that it means something and not spreading out the support too thin." Novell originally proposed charging $10,000 to each of its Platinum VARs but abandoned that idea amid strong opposition. Meister said, however, the $10,000 was only a trial balloon. The annual $2,995 fee includes quarterly technical and sales training, evaluation software, technical support and access to Novell Software Connect Library, a set of limited user beta, early and current releases. Novell will charge $995 to Gold resellers for a more limited set of support offerings. Finally, the company plans to start charging $149 to the thousands of authorized Novell resellers. Novell Platinum VARs used to receive free demonstration software, first dibs on leads in their territory and advance looks on the company's strategic and product direction for free. Although Microsoft Corp. charges its Solution Providers an annual $2,000 fee, Novell should not force VARs to underwrite its marketing programs, said another Platinum reseller. "Novell dropped a bombshell when it suggested that VARs put up money for its promotions," said the VAR. "We are already tasked with selling against the huge behemoth of Windows NT, and now they're asking us to pay $10,000 for that luxury." Novell will post its new channel guidelines on its web site at www.novell.com/channel.. crn.com