Novell: Paging Channel Chief Pat Bernard, Where Are You?

Novell Channel Chief Pat Bernard has left the company, and Tim Wolfe (pictured) is now serving as acting VP of global channel sales. Has Bernard landed a new job elsewhere? The VAR Guy is digging for answers.

Here’s a quick look at the Novell statement:

The more The VAR Guy reads this, the more it seems like Novell is in reaction mode — perhaps issuing a statement very quickly because of a surprise change in Bernard’s career commitments. Of course, that’s complete speculation from The VAR Guy — a trait of his that most readers have learned to deal with..

In a follow-up email exchange with The VAR Guy, a Novell spokeswoman said Bernard was no longer with the company. The VAR Guy is poking around to see where Bernard is heading next.

This is a strange time for Novell. On the one hand, the company has made great strides in the past year with its SuSE Linux, security and identity management efforts. Bernard, meanwhile, stabilized and worked to rebuild Novell’s channel organization, which had withered away in the late 1990s.

Still, Novell seems to have two identities: A growing open source company and a shrinking legacy software company that continues to cut costs wherever possible.

Back in July, Novell executive VP of worldwide sales Thomas Francese left the company as part of an “unfortunate but needed step to help boost operating profits,” according to a research note from Jefferies & Co., which Barron’s covered. But Jefferies & Co. also stated that Novell was nearly recession proof.

Um, The VAR Guy scoffs at such statements. No high-tech company is fully — or nearly — recession proof. And no company can afford to go too long with an “acting” channel chief. It sounds like Novell will be working overtime to find a new channel chief in the weeks ahead.