Hoping to attract corporate customers with tighter control over who can touch your waves of discussion and information, Novell
But is it too little, too late for Novell?
The company is under pressure from an unsolicited and unwelcome buyout bid, and the would-be buyer takes the rejection as a challenge. Novell's board said that it would contemplate "various alternatives to enhance stockholder value," including share buybacks and special dividends, partnerships and joint ventures, and even an outright sale of the company. "We welcome the Board's decision to conduct a sale of the company," said private equity firm Elliott, which might not be exactly what Novell said.
In that light, Novell's Pulse looks like a last-ditch attempt to distract critics and buyers from the company's large portfolio of outdated and dying products. Pulse could replace Groupwise, which is an alternative to the Microsoft
Even if Pulse steals the corporate market out from under Google's nose, it might not matter. Novell's days as a stand-alone business are numbered, and whether the new master might be Elliott, IBM, Oracle
Is Anders too dismissive of a great company with decades of history-making experience? Discuss in the comments below.