Novell Loses Another Exec

For the second time in recent weeks, Novell is losing a key executive who assisted in the company's unlikely rebound. Novell today announced that Chris Stone, senior VP of strategy and corporate development, will leave Oct. 15 to launch Network Decisions, a business-to-business e-commerce company.

Though the news is a setback of sorts for Novell, there is some consolation in the fact that Stone's company will push Novell Directory Services (NDS).

"The direction of Chris Stone's new venture will support Novell's momentum into Internet services and e-commerce," said Novell chairman and Eric Schmidt in a prepared statement. "Over the last two years he made a significant contribution to our work to make Novell the leader in directory-enabled networking. We look forward to working with him in his new endeavor."

Stone isn't the only Novell exec to depart in recent weeks. John Slitz, formerly senior VP of marketing, resigned Aug. 31 to pursue other opportunities.

Slitz and Stone were key figures in Novell's recent rebound. During their tenure with Novell, the company released NetWare 5.0 and delivered several major NDS upgrades, including a native Windows NT release. Novell also regained some respect on Wall Street, where the company's stock climbed steadily through the summer before dipping in recent weeks.