Ask John Slitz
In the November 1997 issue of NetWare Connection, John Slitz,
senior vice president of Marketing at Novell Inc., offered to answer your
questions about Novell's marketing efforts. This article presents some of
the most interesting questions submitted and includes John's responses.
MARKETING IN KUALA LUMPUR
Dear John Slitz,
I have two questions:
- I live in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where upper management has a strong mind-set
that Windows NT Server is the best product to use. People have even been saying
that Novell is dead. How does Novell plan to overcome this mind-set problem?
- Novell needs to make upper management realize that they are missing competitive
advantages for their company by not understanding Novell. What is Novell doing
to market its products to upper management--especially in Malaysia?
TK Ong
Thanks for your questions. It's good to hear from one of our customers
in Malaysia. To answer your questions--
- Novell is far from dead. Today, Novell is the largest provider
of networking software, the fifth largest software company in the world, has
more than 79 million users, $1 billion in cash with no debt, and a $20+ billion
network economy that relies on our software.
The technology industry is rapidly moving toward the area of Novell's greatest
strength: network computing. Novell is the company best positioned to capitalize
on the opportunities these trends provide for a number of reasons including
the following:
- Manageability. With five years of directory
leadership and 33 million NDS [Novell Directory Services] users, Novell
delivers the foundation of manageability on the network.
- Partnerships. Novell has strong partnerships with the
market leaders in the network computing industry, including Compaq, IBM,
Oracle, Hewlett-Packard, Netscape, Sun, Fujitsu, and Computer Associates.
Moreover, Novell's 27,000 channel partners and more than 400,000 certified
professionals worldwide give Novell a tremendous strength and presence
in the market.
Novell also continues to add major new customers to a customer list that already
reads like a who's who of Global and Fortune 1000 companies. Examples of new
customers signed within the past six months include Gillette, Colgate, International
Bank of Commerce, United Airlines, Dell Computers, Sprint, Toshiba International,
U.S. West, Sumitomo Bank Limited, Amway Corporation, and New Zealand Cooperative
Dairy Company, to name a few.
We will continually communicate Novell's advantages and successes to the press,
analysts, channel, and customers, while we continue to deliver quality, award-winning
products and solutions to the market.
- Novell is focusing significant marketing efforts toward upper management,
and we will be more focused and consistent in our communications to them.
We will communicate network solutions with clear delineation of our competitive
advantages.
Novell understands that line of business and senior executive management
need a better understanding of what we offer and how we can help their businesses
prosper. To this end, Novell is launching a new strategy that is focused on
helping business managers and executives understand how network infrastructure
and services bring value to the business. Called Total Value Networking, this
strategy helps business leaders understand how their network and IT resources
can be value centers, rather than cost centers. It's all about looking at
network investments from a business perspective.
John Slitz
ADVERTISING ON TELEVISION
Dear John,
I have a few questions regarding Novell's marketing efforts:
- How is Novell going after top decision makers? Is Novell considering any
television or radio advertising on business-related stations?
- Is Novell giving its CNEs and Certified Novell Administrators (CNAs) any
incentive to continue their education? Also, what is Novell doing to attract
prospective CNEs and CNAs to its certification programs? Everything I read
seems to indicate that most people entering the networking field are jumping
on the Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) and Microsoft Certified
Professional (MCP) bandwagon.
- Does Novell plan to add any bells and whistles to its product lines, including
a GUI server interface and a fax server? These simple, inexpensive, enhancements
are often the deciding factors in whether or not a network operating system
sells.
Matthew S. Gill
Thanks for your questions. I have actually been expecting at least
one of our customers to ask me a question about advertising on television!
- Novell has made a firm commitment to advertising and to being consistent
across all mediums with its messages. For example, we are now targeting upper
management in a new, sharply focused print campaign in select business publications.
Our latest ads use customer testimonials to appeal directly to senior IT managers
and the executives they work for. You may have seen the first ad in this series,
featuring the senior IT manager of Dominos Pizza, in the Wall Street Journal
and other business publications. All Novell ads are now keenly focused and
consistent in look, feel, and message. We are driving home the point that
Novell is relevant again, and that more than ever we have the solutions that
make networks work for customers.
Many of our resellers and education partners advertise on radio around
the country, and we continue to look closely at the costs and benefits of
television and radio advertising. At this point, we don't feel that advertising
in these media is the most effective way to reach our target audiences. Something
we are doing to expand our reach is to place more executive interviews in
influential trade magazines such as CIO and Information Week,
and in more general business publications such as Business Week. These
placements will add to the strong improvement in positive press coverage that
we have achieved over the past several months.
- The noise you're hearing about the MCSE and MCP bandwagon can be easily
misunderstood. Novell is still the clear leader in certification, and we continue
to certify thousands of new CNEs and CNAs each month. Microsoft has published
some misleading comparisons between all of their certifications and the CNE
certification, but Novell is number one in both new and existing certifications.
Since Windows NT is a relatively new phenomenon, it makes sense that many
networking professionals are earning dual certifications these days. In fact,
we are taking advantage of this trend with some great NetWare and Windows
NT integration courses. These courses, along with our new Internet certifications,
are delivering added value to our education channel and keeping Novell certified
professionals ahead of the technology curve. We will soon introduce online
courses that allow networking professionals to study for certification tests
from their home or office.
We are also using the Internet to communicate with our CNEs after they
have become certified. Check out our new CNE Net World-Wide Web site (http://cnenet.novell.com).
We recognize that the army of Novell certified professionals is one of our
greatest strengths, and we will leverage that strength in a series of new
programs rolling out in 1998.
- Novell is in the process of delivering powerful capabilities across our
entire product line. You will see a GUI server interface in NetWare 5, and
you will find an integrated fax server in the next version of NetWare for
Small Business. In addition, Netscape FastTrack Server for NetWare will ship
as an integrated component of NetWare 5. You can also count on other new NetWare
5 features such as pure TCP/IP and a Java Virtual Machine to power our future
growth.
John Slitz
KEEP YOUR QUESTIONS COMING
Since we have received such a positive response to the "Ask John
Slitz" column, we are expanding this column. We have asked other members
of Novell's marketing team to help answer your questions. John Slitz will
continue to answer questions about Novell's overall marketing strategy,
and the appropriate marketing manager will answer your questions about specific
marketing programs. For example, Bryan Clark, manager of Novell's CNE Net
program, will answer your questions about how Novell supports CNEs.
If you want to submit a question to John Slitz and his marketing team, visit
NetWare Connection's web site (http://www.novell.com/nwc).
You can also send an e-mail message to nwc-editors@
novell.com, or you can send a fax to 1-801-228-4576.
NetWare Connection, April 1998, pp. 6-8