Dublin, IRELAND — 21st April 2004 — Novell inc, the leading provider of information solutions, has announced that the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government is to replace its entire e-mail and calendaring system with the Novell Nterprise™ solution, Novell GroupWise 6.5®.

The Novell GroupWise system roll out to the Department provides secure, reliable messaging and calendaring services to over 1,200 Department staff throughout the country, has replaced a variety of other disparate messaging systems including Microsoft Exchange, ccMail and Lotus Notes. The deployment means civil servants can securely transfer and access information (including e-mail, calendaring and instant messaging) from and between geographically dispersed locations in Ireland and abroad.

Novell GroupWise was selected for its stability, security and range of functionality. The Novell GroupWise tolerance to e-mail propagated viruses provides the Department with increased productivity and resilience by cutting down the number of employee initiated viruses. The Novell GroupWise functionality will also be available to all mobile users via the use of laptops, PDA’s, Webtops and Wireless Devices.

The benefits of this solution have been immediately realised, according to David Carroll, Senior Technical Officer at the Department, with recognition and praise coming from senior Departmental officials on the functionality and access capabilities which were recently put to the test at an EU Presidency conference in Malaysia. During the month long conference, departmental officials used Novell GroupWise WebAccess to access their calendar and e-mail as if they were in their office in Ireland, with great success.

According to Aidan Sullivan, ICT Network Manager, Department of the Environment “This is the first time that the department has had a unified messaging and collaboration system and was necessary in advance of Ireland’s presidency of the EU. Our investment in Novell GroupWise and other Novell Nterprise solutions through our involvement in Novell’s Strategic Enterprise Agreement (SEA) has meant a “Quantum Leap” for us in terms of ability to deliver reliable secure services and allow us now to begin to look at delivering additional services around identity by leveraging the other Novell technologies in the SEA”

Paul Fleming, Synopsis Consulting, said “Organisations like the Department need the ability to invest in a messaging system which doesn’t have to be replaced anytime there are changes to other systems such as server operating systems and which are based on open standards and have proved highly resistant to the plague of email borne virus attacks. Novell GroupWise is a highly functional cross platform messaging and collaboration system capable of running natively on Novell NetWare®, Linux or Windows. We implemented these technologies seamlessly with the Department’s infrastructure. The rollout was implemented without problem having rigorously tested the cluster environment and fail-over since installation with zero downtown.”

Commenting on the deal Kevin McAteer, Business Development Manager, Novell Ireland said “Customer references including Wyeth, Bord na Móna, Galileo and now the Department of Environment and Local Government demonstrates the value of Novell GroupWise - security, usability and interoperability are the primary reasons why we are seeing a huge growth in our Irish Novell GroupWise user base. The key to the departments managed environment is focusing on the benefits of utilising Novell's eDirectory® to provide their employees with secure access, anytime, anywhere using any device - Novell's one Net solutions give them that flexibility.”

About Novell Ireland Novell Ireland employs 125 people at its headquarters in Dublin's Grand Canal Street. In Ireland the company carries out functions on behalf of Novell EMEA, including software localisation, manufacturing, distribution, financial control, treasury and the sales operation that includes Irish customers and partners.

About Novell
Novell, Inc. (Nasdaq: NOVL) is a leading provider of information solutions that deliver secure identity management (Novell Nsure™), Web application development (Novell exteNd™) and cross-platform networking services (Novell Nterprise™), all supported by strategic consulting and professional services (Novell NgageSM). Active in the open source community with its Ximian® and SUSE® LINUX brands, Novell provides a full range of Linux products and services for the enterprise, from the desktop to the server. Novell’s vision of one Net – a world without information boundaries – helps customers realize the value of their information securely and economically. For more information, call Novell's Customer Response Center on +353 1 6058000 or visit http://www.novell.com. Press should visit http://www.novell.com/pressroom.

About Synopsis Consulting Ltd
Synopsis Consulting Ltd is Ireland’s leading Novell Consulting specialist. As a certified Novell Business Expert Partner, Synopsis Consulting provides Novell expertise to Customers nationwide and delivers a range of services, which include, Software Procurement, Licence Management, Project Planning and Management, High Level Consulting Services, Training and Technical Support.

Established in 1999 Synopsis is based in Damastown, Dublin 15 and services the entire country including Northern Ireland. For further information contact Synopsis Consulting Ltd. on ++353 1 8214145 or visit www.syncon.ie

About the Department for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government
The Department (www.environ.ie) is responsible for developing and co-ordinating policy and legislation across a wide range of areas, for promoting infrastructural programmes and for providing a number of services directly to the public - housing grants, vehicle registration and environmental information. Most of the Department's spending is channelled through local authorities and as such local authorities are the main providers of public infrastructure and the provision of services locally.

The Departments customers therefore include individual members of the public, elected representatives, local authorities, our agencies, other Government Departments and Offices, international organisations and the many voluntary and representative groups whose business interacts with the Department.

One of the key published strategies of the Department is to “maintain and improve the provision of comprehensive and efficient support services for its staff including information and communications technology (ICT)”

Press Contact:
Eoin Kennedy,
Slattery Communications
Phone: +353 1 661 4055
Mob: +353 86 83395407
E-mail: ekennedy@slatterycommunications.ie