Novell And Filenet Partner To Bring Workflow To Every User's Desktop

New Workflow Products Make GroupWise, NetWare and PerfectOffice Users More Productive

New York -- June 19, 1995 -- Novell, Inc. and FileNet Corporation today announced a joint product development partnership and distribution agreement which adds a new family of workflow software solutions to Novell's product line. These new workflow solutions enable users to actively manage the coordination of business activities in teams, departments and across an entire enterprise. The workflow products surpass the capabilities of other groupware offerings by allowing users, for the first time, to define, create and manage workflow from their desktops.

Novell will integrate the new products with the GroupWise electronic messaging system, the PerfectOffice suite and its other groupware applications. The products will allow NetWare users to better coordinate, collaborate and communicate while enabling FileNet to leverage Novell's broad distribution channel and installed base of approximately 40 million people connected to NetWare networks.

"Novell's presence in the groupware market continues to grow at an accelerated rate due to its commitment to sell the best network solutions available," said Jeff Waxman, executive vice president and general manager, Novell Applications Group. "Novell has partnered with FileNet because of a common commitment to excellence in collaborative computing solutions. Novell's vision of creating an open environment that enables teams to share, manage and act on information, combined with FileNet's ten years of experience in automating business processes, will finally bring workflow computing to every user's desktop."

Novell and FileNet are offering products that enable users of both PerfectOffice and GroupWise to access workflow capabilities at their desktops. Customers benefit from these workflow solutions because they are intuitive, easy-to-use products that are seamlessly integrated with Novell's network applications. With the new workflow products, users can quickly automate business processes, such as purchase orders, expense reporting, correspondence management and sales lead tracking.

"FileNet and Novell are now positioned to capture the workflow market by offering customers a solution that addresses all of the workflow requirements in an organization," said Ted Smith, president and CEO of FileNet. "We are excited to be Novell's workflow technology provider in a partnership that offers users the quality, reliability and support of the industry leaders in two strategic software arenas."

FileNet is also making available a new version of its advanced workflow product, Visual WorkFlo, for the NetWare 4 network operating system. NetWare users can now add the award-winning technology of Visual WorkFlo for automating repetitive, transaction-oriented, line-of-business processes, such as insurance claims and customer service, resulting in significantly higher productivity and lower operating costs. FileNet will continue to provide all versions of the Visual WorkFlo product through its existing distribution channels.

"We are delighted that our networking partner, Novell, has joined forces with our workflow and document imaging partner, FileNet, to bring workflow to the forefront in desktop computing," said Mike Noble, director of finance, Kraft Foodservice. "This is a great opportunity for Novell and FileNet customers. The combined expertise of these two organizations represents a 'dream team' that is uniquely positioned to bring workflow into the mainstream."

"The combination of FileNet and Novell will not only propel workflow software into the corporate limelight, but will raise the bar for groupware solutions," said Scott McCready, senior consultant and program director, International Data Corporation. "With the new family of products, corporations and government agencies worldwide are being given a kick start to improve productivity in a convenient, economical and low-risk manner."