Software vendor Novell is on the hunt for mid-sized resellers to complete its UK partner jigsaw.

Recruiting in all three areas of specialisation ­ identity and security, Linux, and resource management­ Novell plans to sign 20 partners by October.

Jill Henry, senior director for channels and alliances, vowed to transform the company into a partner-focused vendor when she took up the post in September 2007.

“Novell UK is in year two of its five-year turnaround plan. We recruited 20 partners last year and plan to recruit at least 20 more this year, although we want no more than about 50 partners. It is about quality, not quantity,” she said.

“We also want to stabilise and refresh our relationships with existing partners; some have been with us for many years and we would like to develop our friendships.”
However, some of Novell’s partners did not buy into the rhetoric.

The chief executive of one of the vendor’s largest allies, who wished to remain anonymous, admitted he was back-pedaling from Novell due to product reliability and channel management issues. “Novell talks a good game, but when it comes to its traditional channel we have never had it so bad,” he said.

“Over the past 12 months we have done 10 projects that have all had problems. We are now looking to jump into bed with another vendor.”

However, Greg Carlow, managing director of Novell partner Repton, disagreed. “We partnered with Novell last summer. Novell put our employees through pre- and post-sales training and we have found that there is a good amount of customer engagement with them,” he said.