CRN Interview: Jack Messman and Chris Stone, Novell

CRN: Novell's named accounts-named partner model was announced in late 2001 but has yet to go into effect. What is the status?

Messman: It's a slow process by which we identify which sales [representatives] cover which accounts. We had to go through partner assessments as well. We're turning our accounts over to [the named partners], and they're pledging they won't turn over those accounts to Microsoft. We have begun the process of handing over accounts.

CRN: What else has Novell done for partners?

Messman: We put in place a new position called Business Partner Manager [BPM], one for each of the 22 districts, and these jobs are filled. So the BPM is out there calling on accounts with Novell partners and following up on leads for partners. The BPMs will work with named partners.

CRN: What about non-named partners?

Messman: There's no formal mechanism to link Novell's [inside sales reps] to contract with smaller partners. [But] there's an opportunity to provide services to those smaller partners.

CRN: What else is Novell doing for its partner base?

Messman: The other big change is the demand agent model. Nobody ever figured out that we weren't paying the channel to generate demand, only to do fulfillment. And as this migrates to electronic distribution, that's changed. With the agent model, they can earn between 10 percent and 15 percent commissions.

CRN: What is Novell's new crown jewel?

Stone: Nsure [identity management]. It's growing 38 percent, and we've had some huge customer wins: Star Alliance, the city of New York, Lufthansa, the city of Los Angeles, Daimler Chrysler, Swedish Tax Authority.

CRN: Why is it taking off so much in the public sector?

Stone: Because it's a huge cost-cutter.

CRN: Do customers view Web services as a return on investment or a risky capital expenditure?

Stone: It depends on how you pitch it. Customers get the rip-and-replace message from Microsoft with .Net, but we don't pitch it that way. Web services is an ROI. It's taking the components you already have and exposing [them] as a Web interface.