John Dragoon’s Blog

Moments ago Novell and Microsoft made an announcement few would have predicted. Not our shareholders. Not our partners. Not our employees. Not the industry pundits. Not the Open Source community. And perhaps least of all – not our customers. Make no mistake, a few months ago, I would have taken the “under” if asked if a landmark deal between our two proud companies could get done that truly benefited the community that mattered most – the customers who use and rely on our mutual technologies.

I’m not saying for a moment the other stakeholders referenced above don’t matter. They do and the impact of today’s announcement on these parties will be discussed at length by my colleagues (Jeff Jaffe, Nat Friedman, Miguel de Icaza) and others inside and outside Novell and Microsoft. But it’s clear to me that the long term success of every single community mentioned is defined, shaped, impacted and influenced by the folks who write the checks. I suspect most of them / you are saying “It’s about time!”. As our CEO Ron Hovsepian stated, “Too often technology companies ask their customers to adapt to them. Today WE are adapting to our customers.”

Before I share my views on the customer perspective, a bit of background on how we got to this historic day.

A few months back, in an informal discussion about strategic alternatives, one of my colleagues suggested we ought to purse a deeper relationship with Microsoft. Frankly, I didn’t see the possibilities this individual did and pushed back on why it probably wouldn’t work and the potential negative reaction we would get. While I’ve only been at Novell three years, I’m keenly aware of the intense competition and history that exists between Novell and Microsoft. This competitive dimension, while it stirs emotional reactions both within and outside Novell, has not always served the best interests of our customers.

Customers have long understood that competition helps them — by lowering costs, driving innovation and providing choice. Open Source has taken this concept to a whole new level. One side-effect of decades of a competitive IT marketplace is the complexity of the typical customer’s environment. We’ve taken advantage of competitive choices and we’ve ended up with heterogeneous, often difficult to integrate solutions. Competition remains a healthy element in any market but lately customers have been demanding something different from their vendors: compatibility, interoperability and even cooperation. I’ve had numerous conversations with customers who are frankly tired of the bickering that goes on among technology companies. They just want companies to work together to solve their business problems. And this includes Novell and Microsoft.

So we picked up the phone, called our colleagues at Microsoft and asked “What if?”

• What if we collaborated on innovation that made our customer’s more productive?
• What if we made Linux and Windows easier to deploy and manage?
• What if we collaborated on solutions that allowed our customer the choice and flexibility to deploy the technologies most appropriate for their task?
• What if we made interoperability between the worlds of open source and Microsoft more meaningful?
• What if we reduced the concern about our respective patents on the use of our solutions?
• What if we took the customer perspective?
• What if we used the basis of our competition to cooperate?

Hmmmm…..

An interesting thing happened on the way to today. Our two companies decided that through:

• An extensive and constructive dialog
• Mutual respect
• A shared passion and respect for innovation
• Creative problem solving
• Focusing on the customer first

We can do the impossible…if not the improbable. So why am I now so passionate that this is a great deal for customers?

Well, to start with, because you’ve already told us so. Both our companies have spent a considerable amount of time working with clients and making sure that the elements of this deal made sense. We’ve both heard a resounding “Yes”. Some of those customers shared their support today in our press announcement and briefing. Additionally, this is not simply a “cooperative partnership” announcement between Novell and Microsoft. This announcement is backed up by several thoughtful and comprehensive business, technical and patent agreements that give this deal the substance and commitment customers can rely on for years to come.

It’s been an interesting couple of weeks for Linux announcements. I’m very proud of the bridge we are building with our partner Microsoft. Most of all, I’m proud that we we’re able to focus our energies on our shared passion for serving clients and in doing so help them lower costs, reduce complexity and mitigate risk.

Oh by the way, that colleague of mine who thought a conversation with Microsoft would make sense….he turned out to be right (he’s also my boss – I knew there was a good reason he was CEO).

John