Longtime Novell customers took the news in stride, having weathered management transitions and market downturns with Novell over the years. In interviews with 10 Novell customers, several said they wished Novell SUSE Linux had taken a bigger market share by now. Others worried that the layoffs could hit Novell sales representatives and developers who they work with and know well.

But all of the customers said they remain loyal to Novell's products, the company as a whole and its Linux strategy. "Even with the layoffs, I'm not seeing any major changes coming. They've still got the best products out there," said Brad Staupp, senior support analyst at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kan. Staupp said he has beta-tested Novell products for years with a core group of Novell developers that he hopes will remain at the company.

The layoffs comprise more than 10 percent of Novell's 5,800-person global workforce, and are part of an overall restructuring that is expected to reduce annual expenses by more than US$110 million, according to Novell CEO Jack Messman. He called the layoffs part of a restructuring designed to focus on key growth areas in Linux and open-source products as well as identity and resource management products.

Waltham, Mass.-based Novell also promoted Ron Hovsepian to be president and chief operating officer, giving Hovsepian direct responsibility for product development, marketing, sales and services. Hovsepian joined Novell in June 2003 and had recently been president of global sales and services.

"Hovsepian has overseen results in the North American sales force, and with Messman getting older, it will be good for Novell to have somebody as good as Hovsepian in place" as a potential successor, said James Taylor, president of The East Cobb Group Inc. in Marietta, Ga., an integrator of Novell products with more than 30 customers.