SCO name returns as Caldera rebrands itself

Computerworld - Two years after buying the Unix software and services divisions of the former Santa Cruz Operation Inc. (SCO) (see story), Linux and Unix vendor Caldera International Inc. today announced it's changing its name to The SCO Group and reinvigorating its work in the Unix marketplace.
The move, according to the Lindon, Utah-based company, is being made in part to take advantage of the strong brand recognition still associated with the old SCO name. After the acquisition of the two SCO business units in late 2000 (see story), Caldera failed to gain major traction in either the Linux or Unix segments. That led to a corporate restructuring and layoffs last September (see story).
Reg Broughton, a senior vice president of worldwide operations at the company, said today that SCO will maintain both operating systems while adding programs to help resellers and partners market and expand SCO's marketplace penetration.
The move isn't an acknowledgment that the earlier SCO acquisitions by Caldera were a bad choice, Broughton said. "It was the right decision at the time," he said. "Caldera had a good footprint in the Linux market, while SCO had a good footprint in the Unix market. Now, with a new CEO and a new economy, we need to invigorate the company."
The planned name change will require shareholder approval, the company said.
President and CEO Darl McBride said in a statement that the name change "builds on a strong market position, which we will extend as we reinvent the SCO brand."
McBride became Caldera's CEO in June when longtime CEO, president and co-founder Ransom Love stepped down to head the fledgling UnitedLinux effort to create a standardized version of Linux (see story).
Two longtime SCO Unix users called the new strategy a good one, but acknowledged that it comes too late for their companies -- both of which are moving to different operating systems by the end of the year.
Tom Pratt, information systems manager at shipping company Coastal Transportation Inc. in Seattle, said he actually saw improved service and support after Caldera took over the SCO divisions. "There's never been an issue" dealing with Caldera, he said. Pratt said one thing that has surprised him is that Caldera had been promoting its Unix lines in much bigger ways than its Linux line.
By the end of the year, though, Coastal will be moving entirely away from SCO to Red Hat Linux, which supports Informix, a critical database application his company uses.
Roland Priest, a Unix administrator at Philadelphia-based auto parts retailer