Novell Appoints Francese to Head Up Worldwide Sales

Published: October 17, 2006

by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Commercial Linux distributor Novell today announced that it has named Tom Francese its executive vice president of worldwide sales.

Francese was brought into Novell a year ago after a 30-year career at IBM's Software Group and in the wake of Ron Hovsepian's appointment to the top sales job at Novell after he turned around Novell's sales in its North American region. In November 2005, Hovsepian was named president and chief operating officer at Novell, and after a few quarters of weak financial performance, former chairman and chief executive officer Jack Messman was ousted from the company. Hovsepian became president and CEO, and Thomas Plaskett, who has been on the board of directors since November 2002, was elected non-executive chairman of the board.

Prior to his appointment last year by Novell, Francese was the vice president in charge of IBM's EMEA operations in its Software Group, and he was brought into Novell as president of its EMEA operations, reporting directly to Hovsepian. Francese is also a member of Novell's worldwide management committee, and is now in charge of sales across the regions where Novell sells its products. Francese will also retain his role as president of Novell EMEA.

"Novell is at a tremendously exciting time in its storied history, as we move aggressively to stake out a leadership position in the rapidly growing Linux and security, identity and systems management markets," Francese said in a statement accompanying his appointment. "We're focused on the right markets, and we have the right technologies, the right vision and strategy, and, most importantly, the right people to execute on our strategy."

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