Press Release

Novell Announces Third-Party Development Program for GroupWise 5

Systems Integrators, ISVs and Internal Development Teams Can Create Applications for Novell's Intranet-Ready, Extended E-mail System

ATLANTA -- Sept. 17, 1996 -- Novell, Inc. today announced its third-party development program for GroupWise 5, Novell's extended E-mail system and premier intranet application. The GroupWise 5 third-party program is the first to give systems integrators, ISVs and consultants the tools and technical support to develop applications to work with GroupWise 5 and leverage GroupWise's 7 million-user installed base. Novell also announced it will begin shipping a free companion CD in December, featuring five third-party applications for GroupWise 5.

GroupWise 5, launched last week in New York, offers advanced calendaring, scheduling, task management, shared folders, conferencing, workflow, Internet access and full document management. The GroupWise 5 third-party program provides multiple Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), tools, technical information and support to let independent software developers, systems integrators, consultants and internal users build complementary applications that fully leverage the extended E-mail and intranet features of GroupWise 5.

Novell today also introduced 10 charter members of the GroupWise third-party program -- leading application and productivity software vendors who have worked extensively with GroupWise 5 beta versions, and who have recently announced supporting products for GroupWise 5. The applications these vendors provide are representative of the advanced functionality that the GroupWise 5 third-party program will bring to GroupWise 5 users. The vendors' support of the product is evidence of the market opportunity inherent in the GroupWise user base of seven million.

"This third-party program gives GroupWise customers a choice of the best complementary applications, tools and vendors to maximize their investment in GroupWise and their corporate networks," said Lowell Camp, director of third-party development, Novell GroupWare Division. "By opening up GroupWise to developers, Novell will let customers leverage other network-extending and enhancing technologies within the familiar, secure GroupWise environment."

Part of DeveloperNet, Novell's corporate program supporting development to key Novell products, the GroupWise third-party program provides essential tools for developing applications to work with GroupWise 5, including a Software Developers Kit (SDK) and support for open APIs.

In addition to supporting such open industry standards as MAPI, ODMA, OLE, DDE, CMC/CSA, the Windows Open API and OCX, the GroupWise 5 third-party program extends the capabilities of these tools through unique, new application programming tools: the GroupWise 5 Object API (GWOAPI) and programming extensions known as Custom 3rd-Party Objects (C3POs). The GWOAPI, based on the latest object-oriented theory and techniques, provides developers with access to the GroupWise 5 information store, in order to see, use and manipulate GroupWise code.

C3POs are used to extend or customize the GroupWise 5 environment. These extensions allow developers to implement custom data types in the GroupWise information store, and to add or modify the GroupWise browser Toolbar functionality.

By supporting open industry standards, Novell gives developers the choice of working with familiar development environments, rather than restricting them to the proprietary development schemes offered by other E-mail and groupware systems. Developers may access the GroupWise development interfaces through popular development tools such as Visual Basic, Delphi, C/C++ and Java.

"Novell's support of industry-wide development standards has opened up a tremendous market opportunity for us," said Richard B. Sorenson, vice president -- Software Engineering, Synaxis Corp., one of the 10 charter members of the GroupWise third-party program. "By providing the tools and support for developing to GroupWise, Novell is allowing us, not only to provide our current users with leading edge extended E-mail and document management functionality, but to leverage a whole new base of users who require sophisticated collaborative communication technology."

The 10 charter members of the GroupWise third-party program represent a cross-section of key enabling communication and productivity application providers:

  • PUMA Technology offers the Pilot IntelliSync personal digital assistant interface to let GroupWise users synchronize Pilot scheduling and message information with their GroupWise Universal Mail Box, and Personal Information Exchange to allow users to exchange electronic business cards and integrate them into GroupWise 5 databases electronically.
  • Cheyenne Software provides its FAXServe Gateway for GroupWise to let users fax GroupWise messages to each other as easily as E-mailing.
  • CallWare Technologies, Inc. offers voice and call-processing software to give GroupWise users touch-tone phone access to every type of message from the Universal Mail Box.
  • Quarterdeck Corp. provides RemoteMeeting to let GroupWise users hold virtual meetings via GroupWise running on their corporate networks or the Internet.
  • Information Builders has developed the FOCUS SIX GroupWise Reporting Interface to provide information to help users and administrators manage the GroupWise workgroup.
  • Applied Voice Technology offers its CallXpress3 unified messaging solution to let users manage all of their messages, including voice mail and faxes, from the GroupWise Universal Mail Box.
  • WhetStone Technologies offers its ViewWise imaging technology for GroupWise to let users capture, view, manipulate and share scanned images.
  • Active Voice Corp. provides Message Integration software to give users 24-hour access to the Universal Mail Box via their voice mail systems.
  • Synaxis Corp. offers AlertWare to let GroupWise administrators detect and diagnose E-mail problems before they affect productivity.
  • Time Line Solutions has developed its Project Management Integrator tool to help GroupWise users plan, track and implement projects.
In order to educate customers on the advanced technology available to them as a result of the GroupWise third-party program, Novell will be hosting a series of customer forums in which third-party development partners will demonstrate their applications and talk about developing to GroupWise 5. These forums will include a developer roadshow this fall to eight US and Canadian cities, customer workshops both on site at Novell and throughout the country, and Novell's first DeveloperNet conference in Orlando, Fla., from December 3-5, 1996.

"At CallWare, our objective is to make business communication easier and more effective. We deliver powerful benefits and the most advanced voice, call and fax technology, without requiring our customers to discard investments previously made in other hardware or software purchases," said Reino Kerttula, executive vice president of Marketing for CallWare Technologies. "Many of our customers that use NetWare and NDS have already leveraged CallWare's tight integration with GroupWise 4.1 and are planning to take advantage of our upcoming integration with GroupWise 5."

The GroupWise 5 third-party program will give DeveloperNet subscribers SDK updates, access to Novell support forums on the internet and CompuServe, Novell developer publications and updates, and direct development support from Novell engineers. Developers of GroupWise-compliant applications may submit them to Novell for its Yes GroupWise certification, which indicates that a product has successfully completed testing for compatibility with specific Novell products.

Fulfillment details about the GroupWise companion CD will be provided when the CD ships in December.

For additional information on the GroupWise Third-Party Program, developers may call DeveloperNet at 1-800-REDWORD (800-733-9673). Developers may sign up for a base or advanced DeveloperNet subscription, with prices ranging from $345 to $995 per year. For additional information on the DeveloperNet '97 conference, interested parties may access the DeveloperNet Web site at http://developer.novell.com.

GroupWise 5, Novell's premier Intranet application, is an extended E-mail system that is the first in the industry to include full document and image management as part of a new Universal Mail Box. GroupWise 5 helps companies leverage their corporate network investments by providing an instant collaborative solution for the corporate intranet. Building on its predecessor, GroupWise 4.1, GroupWise 5 seamlessly integrates calendaring, scheduling, task management, shared folders, conferencing, workflow and Internet access into the Universal Mail Box. Additional information about GroupWise can be accessed on the World Wide Web at http://www.novell.com/groupwise.

Founded in 1983, Novell (NASDAQ:: NOVL) is the world's leading provider of network software. The company offers a wide range of network solutions for distributed network, Internet, intranet and small-business markets. Novell education and technical support programs are the most comprehensive in the network computing industry. Information about Novell's complete range of products and services can be accessed on the World Wide Web at http://www.novell.com.

Press Contacts:
Elizabeth Johnson
Cunningham Communication, Inc.
(408) 764-0731
Internet: elizabeth@ccipr.com

Kristin Schultz
Novell, Inc.
(801) 228-5124
Internet: kschultz@novell.com