Novell – “You can make some money here if you learn how to work the system. Not a long term career opportunity for most.”

Pros

Good products, good people, large customer-base. Interesting, innovative and forward-thinking product strategy.

They pay well - Novell compensation plan one of the best in the business. However you have to work extremely hard to get sales, and then even harder to get paid.

If you are prepared to learn how to 'work the system', you can succeed here. Many have built very successful careers at Novell..

Cons

Novell's Achille's heel is its brand association with its legacy. Novell should have changed its brand when it began its transformation a couple of years ago. The legacy products are no longer relevant or competitive. Customers all know Novell, but they think of it as the Netware company - and most people you meet will have had experience with Novell NW in the distant past, and usually have migrated away from Netware to Windows. This strong brand association makes selling the new stuff extremely difficult. Even though the new products are good, you need to first overcome the customer's perception of Novell.

The company is undergoing massive transformation. This means that the only constant is change. Management and sales staff are replaced like underpants. Extreme quarterly driven culture. Little regard for future sales strategies and long-term deals.

Heaps of politics. You need to know the right people and get in with them, or you'll be screwed every step of the way. Don't even bother trying to stand up for yourself. Be a drone, or be gone.

The internal processes are insane - getting anything done is nearly impossible as it requires fifty more steps than any other organisation, and all the systems are old, crap and full of rubbish data. Try working out your commission payments, submitting a request for concession, etc.

The local Australian operation is quite disconnected from headquarters, meaning that direction, marketing, strategy is nearly totally irrelevant here... although it is micro-managed remotely, and little authority is given to local management to make decisions and improve the business.

There is a total lack of trust in the organisation. Very siloed management, with multiple reporting lines meaning that middle management can get away with whatever they want and the 'drones' in the field have little say. Zero accountability from management and no ability to escalate issues, dissatisfaction, concerns, etc.

Novell is considered by the market as a dying breed, so not sure how good it looks on your resume. For technical guys, once they've been here for a couple of years and specialised their skills, then they're stuck here forever..

Advice to Senior Management

Learn to trust your workforce. In a satellite sales office, your workforce is your biggest asset. You cannot afford to keep replacing management and sales teams. The market will not bear it for much longer. You have a small window of opportunity - trust in the staff you've recruited, support them, encourage them, RESPECT them and be accountable! Responsibility for revenue is ultimately yours! Don't blame your sales force for poor performance in a near-impossible strategy.

Think - if you've replaced your sales guys, or they've left, over and over again - and things are still not right.. what is the thing that has remained constant? Perhaps try fixing that before you deflect blame like 2 year old school children..