Novell vice chairman Chris Stone on Monday sent staff members an e-mail informing them of the organizational changes. Stone said Novell's future success will be based on two key initiatives: the now-familiar Linux and open-source platforms and related services, and a series of strategic customer solutions based on identity management.

"These are both significant growth opportunities and markets where Novell already has substantial expertise and presence," Stone said in the memo. "In combination, these represent the core strategy of the company.

"In order to align Novell's product development efforts with our corporate strategy and go-to-market model, I am announcing some organizational changes, effective immediately."

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Bruce Lowry, Novell's San Francisco-based director of public relations, on Monday confirmed the authenticity of the e-mail, telling eWEEK that Novell "is strategically aligned behind platforms and identity-driven solutions."

"These moves were designed to align product development behind these two major strategic goals," Lowry said.

There are currently four product business units at Waltham, Mass.-based Novell: Nterprise, Secure iServices, Resource Management and SuSE. These four are being morphed into "two major units focused on our two core strategies," Stone said, adding that Identity Services would combine the existing Resource Management and Secure iServices teams, while the Platform and Application Services would now be a combination of the existing Nterprise and SuSE units.

David Patrick will become general manager of the new product business unit for Linux, Open-Source Platforms and Services. Reporting to him will be Markus Rex, vice president for SuSE; Nat Friedman, vice president for the desktop; Angie Anderson, vice president of applications and services; Ed Anderson, vice president of product marketing; and Rob Kain, director of product management.

Click here to read more about Novell's Linux desktop strategy.

David Litwack will become general manager of the Identity-Based Solutions business unit, with the following people now reporting to him: Kent Erickson, vice president of identity-based solutions; Frank Auger, vice president of product management and marketing of identity-based solutions; Carlos Montero-Luque, vice president of resource management development; and Alan Murray, director of product management and marketing, resource management.

Stone ended his e-mail by telling Novell employees, "With everyone's help, this new alignment will help drive Novell toward its key strategic goals and future success."

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