Novell Puts New Focus On Services

As of this week, troubled networking vendor Novell has a new boss, and he's already started remaking Novell into a company less focused on products and more focused on services.

The makeover started in earnest Monday as Novell finalized its acquisition of systems integrator and consulting company Cambridge Technology Partners after shareholders approved the deal. Last March, Novell agreed to acquire Cambridge for $266 million in stock. The purchase adds almost 3,000 technology consultants to the 350 consultants Novell already had and gives the company the opportunity to sell its software as part of technology solutions specified by its consultants, and vice versa.

With completion of the deal, Cambridge president and CEO Jack Messman takes over as president and CEO of Novell. He replaces former CEO Eric Schmidt, who's voluntarily stepping down to take an advisory role as chairman of Novell's board.

"Today is day one for Novell as a new solutions company," Messman said Monday. Novell now earns two-thirds of its revenue from product sales and one-third from services. But Messman said he wants half of Novell's revenue to come from products and half from services.

The company's new focus on services means that in some cases it will sell packages of services and technology that do not include Novell products, Messman said. But that will be the exception rather than the rule because Novell's aim is to bundle Novell technology with consulting and systems integration skills from Cambridge, he added.

Novell is already developing "jump start" packages that combine products and services, Messman said. The packages will include directory and Internet services software from Novell and professional services from Cambridge. Novell expects to make them available by November.

The first package is designed to help customers easily provision IT resources for new hires, while a second focuses on access and security for corporate networks and applications. The third is focused on the creation of corporate information portals, and the fourth provides return-on-investment assessment for digital technologies.

Organizationally, Novell is in the process of integrating Novell's and Cambridge's businesses. That effort, which began about three weeks ago, will stress three areas of integration, Messman said: infrastructure, human resources, and operations.