Simon Quicke

8 August 2008

It is not often you sit down with a senior manager at a global vendor and hear from them that things were wrong with its channel model and that it had to woo resellers following a loss of direction.

But the fact that Jacqueline de Rojas, managing director for the UK and Ireland at Novell, is willing to talk so candidly about the situation in which she found the company in June 2007, is because she is confident that the present and the future are looking a great deal brighter.

The history of problems at Novell has been apparent through MicroScope’s conversations with its channel partners, in which the vendor’s name was occasionally accompanied by various inventive expletives.

But now there is a sense that things have changed, and as one partner suggested on my way to the interview, it might be a good idea to find out from de Rojas how she has turned the vendor around.

Focused on change

It quickly becomes clear that improving channel relationships has been a mission for de Rojas and her team. On sitting down and talking with her about the channel, she comments that there is a determination to drive change and improve Novell’s standing with resellers.

When describing herself and her vision, a number of words flow through the conversation but one of the most apt, and she uses it herself, is “focused”. One image, which is hard to forget, is when she describes her determination: “If you have the mindset of an assassin, you kill the target and move on.”

But the conversation with de Rojas begins by covering her track record in corporate troubleshooting and partner transformation programmes.

On joining Novell, one of the first problems she identified was the vendor’s inability to scale and the resulting difficulties in delivering on the promises it made to resellers.

But that scale has been introduced into the mechanics of the vendor’s channel operations, along with some changes to its marketing and direct touch programmes, to ensure there is more investment in resellers as well as helping partners drive business.

In terms of transforming its channel and getting the company into a stronger and healthier position, de Rojas believes a lot of progress has been made during her first year.

“We thought it would take 18 months to two years. The more investment you put into the partners, the more they put into us. Some have dedicated whole parts of their businesses just to Novell and then can see that one plus one can equal five, but resellers are very picky about the vendors they take on,” she says.

De Rojas has a clear vision of the direction she wants the UK and Irish operation to take: “Novell is a massive organisation and we have probably broken every rule in the UK, but you have to be slightly renegade to get an inflexion point and we have decided to tread the path less travelled.”

Brand appeal

The vendor has worked hard to not only improve the benefits to attract channel partners, hitting the road with a recruitment drive, but has also stepped up work on its brand.

Despite the apparent problems that the company might have encountered in terms of its channel relationships, it held onto its brand, which the public still recognises and supports, and that is worth a great deal, according to de Rojas.

“We [are becoming] the Novell brand we should have been years ago. This is the time because we have the right people internally and at partners,” she says.

As de Rojas outlines Novell’s focus, the point she makes for a reseller audience is that there are various areas of real potential with which the channel can engage, ranging from its activities in security and Linux to virtualisation and identity management.

“The technology areas we are in are not in declining markets. Security has massive potential. In the Linux area everyone wants to cut costs and get an alternative to Microsoft on the desktop,” she says, mentioning Novell’s alternative to Office, GroupWise.

Regarding security, de Rojas advises partners to avoid relying on anxiety creation and instead pitch a consultative approach. The same applies to its identity business. However, she acknowledges that the recent spate of high-profile government data breaches has helped and Novell’s public sector business remains strong.

Linux comes of age

But it is with Linux that Novell is most closely associated and in that field things have changed.

“Linux and open source have finally come of age and are ready for some big commercial installations,” she says, adding that verticals that are showing interest include the financial and retail sectors.

One year and a couple of months into her role as managing director for the UK and Ireland, de Rojas has already made an impact. She shows no sign of being deflected by the credit crunch or self-doubts that her policies are not the best ones for the vendor and its channel. Indeed, her actions with the channel seem to have paid off, as she describes a year of seduction “rather than a one-night stand”.

Those in the vendor’s channel and beyond will be watching closely to see what de Rojas does in her second year.

The channel chief

When it comes to Novell and the channel, the woman in the driving seat is Jill Henry. The vendor has been actively recruiting resellers and she explains that it is going to increase its investment in its relationships with resellers.

“We have recruited new resellers and spent a lot of effort into re-engaging the current partners we have. We needed to show respect and integrity as business leaders to reinvest in the partners that have stood by us,” she says.

Within the partner ecosystem there is a greater emphasis on developing solutions, consultancy skills and partnerships between partners.

“The next generation of partner programmes for Novell is not just going to be created for the UK. It is an increasingly global market,” says Henry, hinting at the next direction for the vendor.

CV: Jacqueline de Rojas

It has just been over a year since Jacqueline de Rojas stepped into the role as managing director for the UK and Ireland at Novell. She has built up a career in the IT space over 20 years, gaining experience in several leadership roles.

Most recently de Rojas served as vice-president of sales covering EMEA and Asia Pacific at Cartesis, where she was responsible for transforming the company into a licence-driven business, increasing revenues internationally and building the channel strategy. She was also involved in the sale of the company to Business Objects.