Novell Australia plays down local staff cuts

Novell has refused to comment on the size of its planned local job cuts in the face of the company’s current global restructure.

In a statement to CRN, the software vendor’s Asia Pacific president, Rhonda O’Donnell, did however confirm that heads would roll in the region.

“In A/NZ the restructure will result in some unavoidable redundancies,” she said. “But their impact on business operations will be negligible.”

As in the US, the cuts were designed to focus on growth areas in the company’s business, O’Donnell said.

“Linux and identity management are two major growth markets in the IT sector world-wide,” she said. “Focusing on these areas will help create a sustainable business model that will position Novell for the future and provide our partners with profitable business opportunities."

To this end, the decision was likely to have a minimal effect on its partner channel, O’Donnell said.

“Novell has undertaken a large investment during FY05 in the development of our partners across APAC,” she said.

“Opportunities in new growth areas will ensure that partners remain an integral part of our go-to-market strategy.”

The new strategy would see local investment in employment opportunities around Linux and identity management, O’Donnell claimed.