Forwards or Backwards

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Novell, a Timeline

Published · 26 min

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In the early 1990s, if an office had its personal computers joined together, the odds were that Novell's NetWare was doing the joining. This video follows Novell from its first day to September 2026.

Novell Data Systems began in Orem, Utah - in August 1980 according to the press of the time, 1979 according to later histories - as a maker of small computers, and nearly failed. In 1983 Ray Noorda took over and bet the company on software written by three young consultants: a file server that let a room of PCs share files and printers. NetWare, IPX and the Certified NetWare Engineer programme gave Novell 53% of the market by IDC's 1988 count and 70% by 1993.

Then the buying spree: Digital Research (1991), Unix System Laboratories from AT&T (1993), and WordPerfect with Quattro Pro (1994), announced at $1.4 billion and worth about $855 million by the time it closed. Microsoft's Windows NT took the server market, Microsoft Office took the suite market, and in 1996 WordPerfect went to Corel for at least $185 million including royalties.

Eric Schmidt's rescue (1997-2001), the Linux turn with Ximian and SUSE (2003-04, $210 million in cash and $50 million from IBM), the 2006 pact with Microsoft ($348 million) and the long fight with SCO over who owned Unix, won by Novell before a jury on 30 March 2010. On 27 April 2011 Attachmate completed its purchase for about $2.2 billion, and 882 patents went to a group led by Microsoft - changed first by the US Justice Department.

And the afterlife: Micro Focus (2014), OpenText (2023), and SUSE's own road through EQT, the Frankfurt stock exchange and, in March 2026, a reported sale that could value it at up to about $6 billion.

No figure appears without its date and source.

Educational documentary. Not financial or investment advice.

In these topics

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Chapters

  1. The network in every office
  2. Novell Data Systems
  3. Ray Noorda bets on the network
  4. NetWare conquers the office network
  5. Peak Novell
  6. The WordPerfect gamble
  7. Windows NT and the retreat
  8. Eric Schmidt's rescue attempt
  9. The Linux turn
  10. A pact with Microsoft, a war with SCO
  11. Sold
  12. Forwards or backwards?

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Sources and credits

Photo credits (Wikimedia Commons)

Primary sources

  • Wikipedia, 'Novell' and 'NetWare' () - founding in August 1980 (contemporary press) and 1979 (later sources); Canova and Davis; Safeguard Scientifics; Nexus and printer by mid-1981; early-1982 layoffs and Messman; Novell, Inc. 25 January 1983; move to Provo late 1986; NetWare versions 1983-1993; IDC 1988 shares (53%, 17.1%, 8.5%); NetWare 5 on TCP/IP, October 1998.
  • International Directory of Company Histories, 'Novell Inc.' (encyclopedia.com) - founded 1980; Noorda's $125,000 for 33%; hardware division closed; sales $421.9m (1989) and $497.5m (1990); 70% of the network software market in 1993.
  • Network World, Deni Connor, 'Remembering Novell's Ray Noorda', 10 October 2006 - over 70% share in the 1990s; Noorda's background; 'coopetition'.
  • Deseret News, 'Novell co-founder dies', 10 October 2006 - fewer than 20 to more than 12,000 staff; Drew Major's quotation.
  • Novell, 'The value of certification', 2002 - CNE from 1989, first major IT certification, 300 in the first year.
  • Deseret News, 19 July 1991, 30 October 1991 (Digital Research, about 3 million shares) and 21 December 1992 (Unix System Laboratories, about $350m in stock).
  • Deseret News, 23 March 1994 ($1.4bn WordPerfect deal) and 27 June 1994 (59m shares worth about $855m; about $145m for Quattro Pro); Telecompaper, 5 April 1994 (Frankenberg).
  • Associated Press, 1 February 1996 (Roanoke Times) - Corel deal worth at least $185m including $70m minimum royalties; Novell paid $1bn; suite shares 86.5% and 5.4%; Frankenberg's quotation (re-). AP, 30 August 1996 - Frankenberg resigns.
  • EE Times, 26 March 1997 - IDC: NT Server new sales up nearly 85% in 1996, outselling NetWare 4.x by more than two to one. Wikipedia, 'Windows NT 3.1' - July 1993.
  • Novell Form 10-K for fiscal 1996 and fiscal 1997 (SEC EDGAR) - revenue FY1994-96; FY1997 net loss $78.3m; about 1,000 jobs.
  • Novell, 'Dr. Eric Schmidt Appointed Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Novell, Inc.', 18 March 1997 Novell, 10 July 2001, and Deseret News, 11 July 2001 - Cambridge Technology Partners, about $266m; Messman CEO.
  • LWN, 4 August 2003 (Ximian); SUSE, 'Novell Completes Acquisition of SUSE Linux', 13 January 2004 ($210m cash; IBM $50m; Messman quotation re-); Deseret News, 29 January 2004 (HQ to Waltham).
  • Novell Form 8-K for 2 November 2006 ($240m + $108m = $348m; at least $40m from Novell over five years); Microsoft, 2 November 2006 (Hovsepian quotation re-); Network World, 22 December 2006 (Jeremy Allison).
  • Wikipedia, 'SCO Group, Inc. v. Novell, Inc.' (dates 2004-2011); The Register, 30 March 2010 (verdict and Novell's statement, re-).
  • Novell Exhibit 99.1, 22 November 2010 ($6.10, about $2.2bn, $450m to CPTN); US Department of Justice, 20 April 2011 (882 patents, CPTN owners, conditions, Pozen quotation); PR Newswire, 27 April 2011 (completion); Daily Herald, 3 May 2011 (HQ back to Provo, layoffs).
  • SUSE, 'Micro Focus Completes Merger with the Attachmate Group', November 2014; EQT, 2 July 2018 ($2.535bn); Wikipedia, 'SUSE S.A.' (closing 15 March 2019, listing 19 May 2021, delisting 13 November 2023); OpenText, 31 January 2023.
  • Reuters, 9 March 2026, and Techzine, Mels Dees, 'SUSE may be sold again', 11 March 2026 - EQT exploring a sale at up to about $6bn, Arma Partners, about $800m revenue.
  • OpenText, 'Announcing GroupWise 26.2', May 2026; OpenText community, NetWare support dates (general support ended 7 March 2010).

Not regulated financial advice.