Novell Will Key On Interoperability Of .Net And J2EE Platforms

An important element of Novell's strategy, he said, is built around enterprise IT management software. "There are two stacks of software that will exist inside your enterprises that you'll want to build applications on top of," he said, referring to the J2EE stack and Microsoft's .NET stack. "The core piece of what we try to do is focus in on the harmony between those IT stacks." Hovsepian also said Linux is another key piece of Novell's game plan. "Linux is the foundation of what we're trying to get done, from desktop to data center," he said. "It will play a key role going forward in the future."

He said the three trends that have been driving Novell for the past few years, commoditization, virtualization and simplification, remain the central drivers in the industry, and the trends are accelerating as time goes on. "We see you going through the evolution of consolidation of servers," he said. "As you make that migration you'll think of virtualization as the second phase of the evolution of your data center."

Hovsepian also touched on the concept of collaboration convergence, acknowledging the rise of social media entities like Facebook and MySpace, coupled with the advances in mobile technology, are increasingly blurring the lines between work life and personal life. "We come to work, we have our personal handheld devices, and we want to take advantage of that social software in the workplace," he said. "We have to integrate it, because I don't know where my work life ends and my personal life begins."

It's not enough to recognize the convergence, he said. "Right in the middle of all this is: We have to simplify it," he said. "How do we deal with the physical and logical security as these things converge?"

The importance of partners, of which he said Novell added 152 of in the first months of this year, is key to stability during this convergence. Novell's ability to adapt and support its partners is crucial. "We're adding things like a Web self-help approach and online chat capability that will compliment on-site and voice capabilities," he said. "We know where the technology is moving, and we're going to leverage those sources and bring it out to you."

The importance of innovation and the variety of sources from where it springs is also key, Hovsepian said. He identified four sources from which Novell depends on innovation, including products, the community, acquisitions, and standards bodies. In the area of community, Hosepian said Novell puts a focus on our sponsorships and contributions around our open-source solutions. "They bring innovation to our company and are able to take advantage of our community worldwide," he said.

Most important, he said, is keeping a focus around the concept of specialization, starting with the business problem Novell customers and partners may be dealing with. "We have to focus on our partners, our customers and our employees -- what can we do better, and how do we improve that?" he asked the audience. "We have to align all of our people and resources to line up behind your vision."

He pledged not to deviate from the company's focus as an infrastructure software company and reiterated his dedication to building new partnerships and strengthening old ones. "The most important thing I can do is be steady in our focus, and I'm very committed to that, because I know you're making business decisions relying on that," he said. "That measurement of success comes in one final form: Did we make your IT work as one?"