Novell Reviews

I worked at Novell

Pros – Fun , cool people , excellent location , 4 weeks vacation , excellent medical insurance , RRSP matching plan

Cons – Large organization , people scattered across the globe , outsource, firing

Advice to Senior Management – None

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at Novell full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Novell does like to standardize some processes, but does not follow that everything like it should. They also run the company with their own religious views, the Mormon way.

Cons – No one ever gets a raise. No one gets more then a thank you Email for each year you are here, not even after 5 years.

Advice to Senior Management – Stop thinking of your own money and start thinking how to keep the company from going down.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at Novell

Pros – Good benefits
Fair compensation for the most part
Close to downtown core
Good work/life balance
Strong product set
Large dedicated customer base
Hungry to be relevent again

Cons – Mired in red-tape
Stagnant growth for much of recent history
Branding issues - viewed as an old player with little progressive solution focus
Constant change in corporate direction

Advice to Senior Management – Bring in some outside Sr. Management to modernize messaging and operational thought. Pick a winning strategy and rally the organization to execute on it, without abandoning for a new strategy after 2 quarters.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at Novell

Pros – Good portfolio of technology and products, Good work atmosphere, and good work/life balance.

Cons – Poor reputation with customers, Novell brand is viewed as a dinosaur. Operational obstacles, typical of larger organizations as well.

Advice to Senior Management – Marketing re branding, and streamlining processes can bring Novell back to growth

I have been working at Novell full-time for more than 8 years

Pros – - Great colleagues to work with
- Nice on-site cafeteria
- Great work-out facility
- Excellent vacation / sick policy
- Flexible - family oriented environment

Cons – - Lack of raises
- Little to no opportunity for advancement
- New management team struggling after acquisition
- Benefits getting worse (401k match, health insurance options)
- Aging workforce, lack of innovation - new blood needed
- Competitive environment and declining sales for legacy products
- Bonus system that rewards everyone equally regardless of contributions

Advice to Senior Management – Allow for some differentiation / salary bumps to retain key people. Work on hiring younger engineers to bring in new ideas.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I worked at Novell full-time for more than 8 years

Pros – Company used to have a great vibe, awesome management, competitive salary and bonuses.

Cons – After Attachmate acquisition, much of the management and employee knowledge went out the door with the lay offs that occurred. Left existing employees carrying huge work loads, benefits got worse, little to no raises. Morale became bad and management either didn't care or was unable to take any action to change anything.

Advice to Senior Management – Treat your employees better.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

I worked at Novell full-time for more than a year

Pros – - Work culture is very good. You will be respectful here.
- IDC is one of the best development centers. Some of the best projects of Novell are based here.
- Relaxed atmosphere, good office infrastructure
- You can find a lot of employees who have stayed here for very long. Despite of being from top colleges and who can get a job in any of the top-notch orgs, still have been with Novell.

Cons – - Compensation goes for a big toss.
- Company struggling with continuous re-orgs happening.
- Loosing the attention of analysts.
- Very few new products in pipeline. So work is mostly maintenance,
- Many great employees who have stayed the with the company for a long time are leaving now.

Advice to Senior Management – Well, Novell is dead. We have to accept it. You have to just figure out the murderers now.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I worked at Novell full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – work/life balance. In other words, lots of people pretending to be far busier than they really are.

Cons – the constant, unrelenting stream of negativity from all around.

Advice to Senior Management – too late. Products used to be great but now they're poorly developed and bloated to meet analysts/Gartner requirements.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

I have been working at Novell full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – kind of work, company culture

Cons – environment is a little negative

Advice to Senior Management – too many of them

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

I have been working at Novell full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Upper level management is down to earth.

Cons – New products are in infant stage

Advice to Senior Management – View every position as revenue generating.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company