AT the Comdex mega-trade show in Las Vegas in November last year, Novell's chief executive officer Robert Frankenberg outlined in his keynote address to the industry his company's strategy for the immediate future, which would be based on an overall theme of pervasive computing.
As horrific as the term pervasive computing sounds, the tag actually fits, acknowledging the widespread and growing trend towards networked - as opposed to standalone - computing.
For Novell, the strategy has its roots in the company's core competency of tying personal computers together into networks.
In his Comdex address, Mr Frankenberg devoted much energies to describing the 'new corporate environment', where flatter management structures meant more people working together in groups, sharing information and resources.
The next generation of software, he said, had to be designed with the workgroup in mind.
PerfectOffice, the packaged suite of office software from Novell's Applications Group, is the first of the company's products launched with this concept of pervasive computing deeply embedded in it.