Novell Simplifies Conversion to NetWare 4.1 with Partner ToolKit

Migration Tools Available to Novell Partners Convert NT Server, LAN Manager, LAN Server to Industry-Leading NetWare 4.1 and NDS

Novell's Enterprise Consulting Partners will use the ToolKit to help their customers migrate to NetWare 4.1 and NDS from competing networks, allowing customers to reap the benefits of a single, integrated information system that is easier to access, easier to administer, and less expensive to own, operate and maintain. The ToolKit includes a migration tool, a Server Message Block (SMB) compatibility tool, and additional client migration resources including methodologies, notes from Novell research, and other conversion utilities.

Novell's Enterprise Consulting Partners are a select group of the industry's leading systems integrators and consulting organizations. These partners deliver flexible and competitive client/server solutions built on Novell's distributed network services for customers with large, enterprise-wide networks.

INTELSAT is the international telecommunications satellite company, headquartered in Washington, D.C. Alfonso Guilaran, INTELSAT LAN analyst, said, "Our biggest concern in migrating and consolidating from Microsoft LAN Manager and NT Servers to NetWare 4.1 was our ability to identically configure customer access to applications and data in the NetWare 4.1 environment. The migration tools provided by Novell made it simple and automated the work for us."

"At the Voluntary Hospitals of America (VHA) corporate offices, we've been migrating from LAN Server to NetWare 4.1," said Eric Wilson, MasterCNE for The Harding Group, a systems integrator in Arlington, Texas. "Our concern was the ability for our users to still access applications and resources without having to visit every desktop at the time of the migration. The Novell ToolKit has been unbelieveably easy to use and the SMB emulation tool alone makes this ToolKit priceless."

The Migration Edition of this ToolKit provides system integrators and consultants with the ability to provide across-the-wire migration from NT Server, LAN Server, and LAN Manager networks to Novell's NetWare 4.1. This capability enables data files to be migrated directly across the network from the source server to the destination server, automatically converting user information, access rights and data from other environments to NDS on NetWare. This migration method saves considerable time by preserving users' names, permissions, account information and file system data on the source server. Existing utilities to migrate users from Banyan Vines and NetWare 3 to NetWare 4 are also included on the ToolKit.

Also included in the ToolKit is a Server Message Block NetWare Loadable Module (NLM) that allows users to continue to run line-of-business applications without changing their client software during the migration. This enables network managers to smoothly transition to the new operating system environment by switching over the server to NetWare--without having to visit each client workstation the day of conversion. Users experience zero down time and network managers can complete client conversion at another date.

"We developed these migration tools in response to the enterprise customers worldwide who are turning to NetWare 4.1 and NDS to lower their cost of network ownership, help their network administrators and users work more efficiently, and ensure they're on the right network path for the future," said Bob Wise, vice president, Novell Consulting. "With NDS quickly becoming the central service that ties together the enterprise network, these tools combined with the expertise of our Enterprise Consulting Partners will help ensure customers' transition to NetWare 4.1 and NDS is as fast and easy as possible."

In support of the Migration Edition of the ToolKit, Novell Consulting will be offering migration workshops for Novell channel partners between February and April 1996 at more than 15 locations throughout North America. These workshops will also be offered at Novell offices in Europe, Asia and Latin America. In addition, Novell Consulting will be hosting migration sessions during the company's annual BrainShare developer's conference in March.

The Migration Edition of the Novell Consulting ToolKit will be generally available to all Novell Consulting Partners and Platinum and Gold partners, at no charge beginning in February. Novell customers and other interested parties can subscribe to the Consulting ToolKit for a small annual fee by calling 801-429-5387, or completing the subscription form in Novell's web site.

For more information about Novell's Enterprise Consulting Partners, call 1-800-346-6855 or 801-429-7557, or visit Programs in Novell's World Wide Web site at http://www.novell.com.

Novell (NASDAQ: NOVL) is the world's leading network software provider. Novell software provides the infrastructure for a networked world, enabling our customers to connect with other people and the information they need, anytime and anyplace. Novell partners with other technology and market leaders to help customers make networks a part of their everyday lives.

Press Contact:
Ren Siegel
Novell, Inc.
(510) 485-1717
rsiegel@novell.com