Thank you for all of your input and feedback regarding Windermere, the Mac Client, new client features, admin focus and suggestions for different priorities.

We have spent a considerable amount of time over the last 12 months meeting with existing customers to determine what the short term focus should be regarding our collaboration strategy.

While I realize that not all customers will have the same priority or list of pain points, it is important to at least understand and share back with our customers, end-users and administrators how their input is shaping our decisions.

First of all - let me be very very clear. Novell is almost exclusively focused, and has been since the Attachmate acquisition, on our existing customers. Every release, roadmap, product and deliverable has been done for the express benefit of our current customers. While it is always true that a company would like to attract new customers, we are reserving the right to pursue new customers only after we have significantly satisfied our existing customers.

To that end, Novell completely revamped its Sales force, compensation model and account management thinking to accommodate this focus. With some 300% increase in Sales, Sales Engineering, and Account Managers, this workforce has now been deployed world wide.

As we met face to face with CxOs throughout our customer base, we found that one of the top issues that they wanted addressed was Administration/Active Directory support. This was not so that it would be easier on GroupWise Administrators - although that is always a good side effect - it was so that GroupWise would better integrate into their overall network infrastructure and that it would be perceived as 'relevant' and 'current'.

Obviously this is not the only feedback we received. We requested priority on 15 different categories. The GroupWise Windows Client features and improvements along with WebAccess improvements and new functionality was also at the top of many customers' lists.

The Mac Client - obviously a hot topic. Novell recognizes that we owe our customers and the community an update. The engineering team has been heads down trying to get a handle on several deliverables over the last year including GroupWise 2012, Mobility, Vibe, GroupWise 8.0.3, new Messenger updates and a new co-existence solution. Every one of these has been requested/demanded by our current customers. Not one of these deliverables was specifically targeted to new customers.

Now that we have many of those under way, we have completed most of the new hiring for the engineering team, we have been trying to determine the velocity of this expanded engineering force. We have been looking at several options regarding the Mac client including the update already scheduled for Mac - GroupWise 8.0.2 HP4 - which is scheduled for this summer. We know that this will not meet all of our Mac users' needs. Additional options are now being explored. We will share those details when they become available. I know you want answers and information yesterday, but I simply can't share anything until we have complete alignment.

Thank you for your continued interest and demands. It helps to know exactly where each of you want us to focus our attention. We are getting there as quickly as possible.

Dean

Quote: "As we met face to face with CxOs throughout our customer base......"

Seriously... Why only meet with HIGH Level VP's? Why not "meet" face to face with the GroupWise Admins, the folks who work directly with the GroupWise product line on a daily basis. We are the one's getting certified on Novell products.

Quote: "As we met face to face with CxOs throughout our customer base......"

Seriously... Why only meet with HIGH Level VP's? Why not "meet" face to face with the GroupWise Admins, the folks who work directly with the GroupWise product line on a daily basis. We are the one's getting certified on Novell products.

Thanks for your comment.

Let me clarify...

1. We did not meet exclusively with CxOs. However, they are the ones who are forcing decisions within a lot of organizations. It was very important to talk to the decision makers and the decision influencers within each organization and not only share with them what Novell/GroupWise is doing, but also solicit their feedback and input. This obviously includes CxOs and Admins.

2. For the most part, the GroupWise Admins are already our allies and advocates. Obviously, it is difficult to speak in absolutes, but in general, this is true. End-users also tend to be fairly satisfied - as long as they did not come from Outlook/GMail and simply are resistant to learn a slightly different way to accomplish the same thing.

Hope that explains it better.

Dean