Goodbye Novell (sign)

It's official, after a little over 5 years and two different acquisitions, the 'Novell' sign has finally been removed from building H.  For about 14 of my 15 years at 'Novell' I've worked in the East Bay campus.  I've driven north on I-15 and could see the familiar building H, with it's red neon Novell sign on top.  Currently it looks a little bare, however it will be replaced with 'Micro Focus' very soon.

Below: Taken from the 8th floor looking down (North side of Building H).

It's very apparent (now) that when Attachmate bought Novell in 2010, all Attachmate wanted to do was to suck as much cash out of the company.  They were quite successful at this cash sucking procedure. Attachmate sucked the one billion in cash we (Novell) had at the time of acquisition.  Attachmate also began selling anything and everything they could.  They sold a large portion of our patent portfolio, including a patent a co-worker and I submitted to the US Patent office (which is now owned by Oracle).

Attachmate also sold all the buildings in the East Bay campus, including Building H and locked 'Novell' into a 10+ year lease at a crazy rate.  Attachmate didn't care as they weren't in it for the long haul, they were just in it long enough to pull the cash they wanted and run.

When Micro Focus bought Novell (and Attachmate Group from Attachmate) in 2014, it was refreshing. Micro Focus quickly went to work reviewing the company and began investing in people and products.

It will take a little time to get use to the new 'Micro Focus' sign, but it is a welcome change.