Novell Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids
Novell Inc.

Type	Public (NASDAQ: NOVL)
Industry	Software
Founded	Provo, Utah (1983)
Headquarters	Waltham, MA , USA
Key people	Ron Hovsepian, CEO and President John Dragoon, Senior Vice President, CMO Dana Russell, Senior Vice President, CFO
Products	Novell eDirectory Novell Open Enterprise Server SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Novell NetWare SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop Novell GroupWise Novell ZENworks Novell Identity Manager Novell Access Manager Novell exteNd Novell BorderManager< PlateSpin Forge, PowerConvert and PowerRecon
Revenue	US$932.5 million (2007)
Operating income	US$55.8 million (2007) (-6.0% operating margin)
Net income	US$44.5 million (2007) (-4.7% profit margin)
Number of employees	4,100 (2008)

Novell Inc. was an American company that made computer software. It was founded in Provo, Utah in 1983. Novell was known for creating special software called operating systems for large computer networks. These systems helped many computers work together.

Novell also made software for managing computer systems and keeping them safe. They created tools for people to work together, like email and scheduling programs. Novell played a big part in making the Utah Valley a hub for technology companies. Many people who worked at Novell later started their own software businesses in the area.

What Novell Created
Novell's History and Growth
Related pages
Images for kids
See also

What Novell Created

Novell developed many important software products. These products helped businesses manage their computer systems. They also helped people work together more easily.

Operating Systems for Networks

Novell's most famous product was Novell NetWare. This was an operating system designed for computer networks. NetWare allowed many computers to share files and printers. It was very popular in the 1980s and 1990s.

Later, Novell also became known for SUSE Linux Enterprise. This is another type of operating system. It is used by large companies to run their servers and computers.

Tools for Managing Computers

Novell made software to help companies control their computer systems. These tools included:

Novell eDirectory: This helped manage user accounts and network resources.
Novell ZENworks: This allowed IT staff to manage many computers at once.
Novell Identity Manager: This helped control who could access different parts of a computer system.

Software for Working Together

Novell also created programs that helped people collaborate.

Novell GroupWise: This was a popular program for email, calendars, and instant messaging. It helped teams communicate and organize their work.

Novell's History and Growth

Novell started small but grew into a major software company. It made several important purchases over the years. These purchases helped Novell offer more types of software.

Early Days in Utah

Novell was founded in Provo, Utah. The company quickly became a leader in network software. Its success helped the Utah Valley become a center for technology.

Big Purchases

In the 1990s, Novell bought other well-known software companies. One of these was WordPerfect. WordPerfect made a very popular word processing program. Novell also bought Quattro Pro, a spreadsheet program. These purchases aimed to help Novell compete with other big software companies.

Changes Over Time

Over the years, the software industry changed a lot. Novell adapted by focusing on new areas like Linux and security. In the early 2000s, Novell moved its main office to Waltham, Massachusetts. The company continued to develop new products.

Images for kids

Novell's chief scientist was Drew Major, here seen later in his career
Novell made some networking hardware products even after NetWare became a success; here, a Novell NE2000 16-bit ISA 10Base-2 Ethernet card from 1990
Floppy disks for NetWare 2.2
Novell's Building F in Provo in 1994, part of a large complex of Novell buildings once there, with the Wasatch Range in the background
The annual Novell BrainShare conference, seen here with its entrance letters in 1995, helped spread the word about how developers and partners could make use of NetWare
Novell's Summit, New Jersey, office, 1994 (formerly Unix System Laboratories)
Novell had a development office in Bracknell, Berkshire, UK for many years (here seen in 2006)
The WordPerfect building in Orem, Utah, with Novell signage, in 1994
Novell's PerfectOffice suite, reflecting the purchases of WordPerfect and Quattro Pro
Eric Schmidt, CEO of Novell from 1997 to 2001
From 1998 to 2001, Novell owned this private jet, here seen taking off from San Jose bound for Provo
In the early 2000s Novell moved its headquarters to this building in Waltham, Massachusetts, following the acquisition of Cambridge Technology Partners
SuSE Linux headquarters and Novell office in Nuremberg in 2007
Novell with SuSE at the Invex expo in Brno, Czech Republic in 2006
Novell's booth at a 2007 event in Beijing, showing slogan
Despite controversy with some in the community, Novell persisted: its booth at Solutions Linux 2009 in Paris.
The main building in Provo in 2013 during the Attachmate Group era; the name Novell was kept on it. A 'For Sale' sign for some of the property can be seen in front of the building.
Internal company T-shirt celebrating two acquisitions ... that did not work out
While Novell was no longer an independent company after 2011, it (along with WordPerfect) was instrumental in making the Utah Valley a focus for software development, and its legacy resides in the area having many small companies whose employees previously worked at Novell.