Novell Reviews

Pros

Potential was great but left outside the realm of consideration

Cons

Sell Outs for personal gain

Advice to Senior Management

Lead not react

Pros

Good work life balance, friendly atmosphere, professionel approach

Cons

No or very little carreer opportunities

Pros

Great people to work with. Good compensation and benefits.

Cons

No real corporate strategy and direction. Constant change and lack of leadership.

Advice to Senior Management

Develop and execute a solid vision and strategy.

Pros

Novell treats employees like family - which maybe was part of their downfall. Pre-merger it was a great place to work - we'll see what happens next.

Cons

Senior leadership seemed to concentrate more on cost-cutting than raising revenues. Novell always got great technical reviews but could never translate that into more sales - shame.

Pros

Overall great people to work with. Company has a keen interest in keeping employees happy. The work is challenging and satisfying.

Cons

Upper management at times experience a disconnect from the work in the "trenches". The agreement on strategy of what type of company Novell is can cost the company revenue.

Advice to Senior Management

There is money being left on the table on a regular basis with lost opportunities and customers taking advantage of Novell being too "nice". Watch for opportunities to capitalize on revenue opportunities, especially within support.

Pros

Opportunity to work with smart, talented and determined people. Best-in-class technology. Offers good benefits and office culture. Provides great learning opportunities.

Cons

Frequent (quarterly) layoffs reduce morale and sense of job security.
Lack of vision and weak execution (new corporate strategy each year).
Frequent changes in management (I was assigned a new manager approximately twice a year).
Focused on short-term planning and selling.
The Novell brand has high awareness, but is poorly perceived in the market.

Advice to Senior Management

Hire TBWA/Chiat/Day to improve the Novell brand.

Pros

Novell had some very strong engineers
Novell products led the market in many product divisions
Novell had some great sales teams and management

Cons

Novell was a case study in "why not to have executives in remote locations away from the main body of engineers, PM, Marketing, Sales, Operations"
Why did Novell's Board put the executive team in Waltham, MA away from the main campus in Provo, UT.

Advice to Senior Management

The Board of Directors just wanted to sell the company. They had no vision or drive to do more and invest in more than window dressings. This is a terrible travisty in the Novell legacy, the engineers were great, the products where great, but the execution lagged b/c of Leadership disconnect.

Pros

Talented employees, good benefits, fairly flexible work schedule, interesting projects

Cons

Lack of focus, no real stake in the market, fragmented processes, too many cooks in the kitchen

Advice to Senior Management

At this point, the management that I knew is no longer with Novell - they are off sailing into the sunset.

Pros

Helpful environment
Good Culture
recognition
Excellent learning opportunities
OnSite activities and opportunities
Good expertise in worldwide centres
monetary awards for performance

Cons

Low Profits
Brand Beating
Politics
Pressure environment
Not much expertise in Indian branches
not great hikes
improve the perks for the employees

Advice to Senior Management

Be more adventurous and creative while taking new and innovative initiatives. Be more transparent to your lower management. Go After the market

Pros

Great people working very hard to stay afloat

Cons

Not knowing and not being told just what the future will bring

Advice to Senior Management

get the but out done sonner rather than latter