No one was really surprised when Novells board fired former CEO Jack Messman. Many analysts think the move might be just what the Linux company needed.
Gartner Research Vice President John Enck, for example, said that “Gartner sees as long overdue changes that are a big step in the right direction for the company.”
This is not to say that Enck thought Messman, who had been involved with Novell in one way or another for more than two decades, had done a bad job.
On the contrary, Enck said. “As CEO and Chairman of Novell, Jack Messman did an excellent job of keeping Novell in solid financial health.” But, he said, “He was unable to maintain a consistent executive leadership team and had difficulty articulating the Novell value proposition to the market.”
Thats where Enck thinks that newly appointed CEO Ronald Hovsepian should do well. Hovsepian, a former senior IBM executive, “should be an excellent replacement and has the vision and leadership skills to move Novell forward,” Enck said.
“Gartner expects to see consistent financial growth, gains in market share against Red Hat and continued growth in the identity management market under Hovsepians leadership,” added Enck.
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