Robert J. Frankenberg (born 1947) is an American

computer engineer Computer engineering (CE, CoE, or CpE) is a branch of engineering specialized in developing computer hardware and software. It integrates several fields of electrical engineering, electronics engineering and computer science. Computer engine ...

and business executive who served as chairman, president and chief executive officer of

Novell, Inc. Novell, Inc. () was an American software and services company headquartered in Provo, Utah, that existed from 1980 until 2014. Its most significant product was the multi-platform network operating system known as NetWare. Novell technolog ...

from 1994 to 1996.

Life and career

Frankenberg spent much of his career at

Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company. It was founded by Bill Hewlett and David Packard in 1939 in a one-car garage in Palo Alto, California ...

(HP), starting there in 1969. While at HP, he earned a degree in

computer engineering Computer engineering (CE, CoE, or CpE) is a branch of engineering specialized in developing computer hardware and software. It integrates several fields of electrical engineering, electronics engineering and computer science. Computer engi ...

from

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

in 1974 and completed the Stanford Executive Program at

Stanford Graduate School of Business The Stanford Graduate School of Business is the Postgraduate education, graduate business school of Stanford University, a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California. For several years it has been the most selective ...

. In 1985 he was promoted to general manager of the Information Systems Group and made vice president in 1989. He led the revival of HP's

personal computer A personal computer, commonly referred to as PC or computer, is a computer designed for individual use. It is typically used for tasks such as Word processor, word processing, web browser, internet browsing, email, multimedia playback, and PC ...

unit, and in 1991, he was promoted to group vice president of personal information products. He then moved to Novell in 1994, succeeding

Raymond Noorda Raymond John "Ray" Noorda (19 June 1924 – 9 October 2006) was a U.S. computer businessman. He was CEO of Novell between 1982 and 1994. He also served as chairman of Novell until he was replaced in 1994. Early life Noorda was born in Ogd ...

.Fisher, Lawrence M. (April 6, 1994). Longtime Hewlett Executive Named Novell Chief. ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' He spent much of his tenure divesting properties acquired by Noorda in a bid to compete with

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

. He sold

Wordperfect WordPerfect (WP) is a word processing application, now owned by Alludo, with a long history on multiple personal computer platforms. At the height of its popularity in the 1980s and early 1990s, it was the market leader of word processors, disp ...

and Quattropro to

Corel Cascade Parent Limited, doing business as Alludo ( ), is a Canadian software company headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, specializing in graphics processing. Formerly called the Corel Corporation ( ; from the abbreviation "Cowpland Research Laborat ...

and Unix Systems Laboratories to

Santa Cruz Operation The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc. (usually known as SCO, pronounced either as individual letters or as a word) was an American software company, based in Santa Cruz, California, that was best known for selling three Unix operating system variants ...

, taking huge losses. Analysts stated that Novell missed opportunities to capitalize on client–server computing and emerging

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

-based technologies.Fisher, Lawrence M. (August 30, 1996)
Flummoxed by the Internet, Head of Novell Resigns.
''

'' In 1997 he became president and CEO of Encanto Networks, Inc. He has been a management consultant with NetVentures since 1996. Frankenberg has served on several corporate boards, including

Nuance Communications, Inc. Nuance Communications, Inc. is an American multinational computer software technology corporation, headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts, that markets speech recognition and artificial intelligence software. Nuance merged with its compe ...

, Daw Technologies, Inc., and Scansoft, Inc. He has been on the boards of Electroglas, Inc. since 1993, Caere Corporation since 1996,

Secure Computing Corporation Secure Computing Corporation (SCC) was a public company that developed and sold computer security appliances and hosted services to protect users and data. McAfee acquired the company in 2008. The company also developed filtering systems used b ...

since 1996,

National Semiconductor National Semiconductor Corporation was an United States of America, American Semiconductor manufacturing, semiconductor manufacturer, which specialized in analogue electronics, analog devices and subsystems, formerly headquartered in Santa Clara, ...

since 1999, and Sqlstream since 2011. He served as board chair and acting CEO of Kinzan, Inc. from 1999 to 2006. In 2013, he was appointed as a board member to Polycom, a broadband service company, along with Martha Helena Bejar. He has served as a trustee of

Westminster College, Salt Lake City Westminster University is a private university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 and comprises four schools. History Westminster University was founded in 1875 as the Salt Lake Collegiate Institute, a preparatory ...

, since 1997.

References

External links

Robert J. Frankenberg profile
via

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

* 1947 births Living people American computer businesspeople San Jose State University alumni Novell NetWare Novell people 20th-century American businesspeople {{US-compu-bio-stub