Novell's CEO: Can't Lose Tuesday

Novell’s CEO: Can’t Lose Tuesday

Written by Joe Panettieri 1
August 27, 2006

When Novell announces quarterly results on August 29, recently appointed CEO Ronald W. Hovsepian will have nothing to lose. If the company delivers poor results, Hovsepian can blame his predecessor (Jack Messman) and describe a turnaround strategy. If the quarterly results reveal some upside, Hovsepian can take the credit.

By most accounts, Novell’s new SuSE Linux Enterprise 10 is gaining traction–both in the U.S. and abroad. But Red Hat continues to pace the Linux market. Novell needs to build closer relationships with open source database and application developers such as MySQL, SugarCRM and JasperSoft to really get back in the game.

Novell’s stock will continue to face pressure from skeptics. But at least for this Tuesday, Hovsepian will earn a free pass from investors and customers.