Novell Welcomes Compaq Computer Corporation to Enterprise Consulting Program

SAN JOSE, CA -- September 23, 1997 -- Novell, Inc. today welcomed the Enterprise Consulting Services (ECS) unit of Compaq Computer Corporation to its Enterprise Consulting Partner (ECP) program. As enterprise consulting partners, the two companies will work together to implement and support distributed network solutions for large enterprises.

The world's largest supplier of PC Servers, Compaq was selected as a Novell ECP as a result of their aggressive team of systems engineers which offers a full range of expertise in information management and networking in distributed systems.

"As one of Novell's premier enterprise consulting partners, Compaq has made extensive commitments to training and support of Novell products," said Greg Hudson of Novell Consulting. "Participation in the ECP program will allow Novell to further strengthen Compaq's ability to deliver Internet and intranet solutions on Novell's IntranetWare platform."

Recognizing their customers' and partners' need for value-added services in addition to quality hardware products, Compaq has staffed Enterprise Consulting offices throughout North America. In addition, Compaq offers Enterprise Solution Centers located in Houston, New York and San Francisco. These centers are designed to assist customers in the evaluation of integration plans, system sizing, application performance and scalability.

According to Ed Wolyniec, vice president of Compaq's Enterprise Services, the transfer of knowledge by way of direct and leveraged delivery is central to Compaq's ECS business model. "Compaq feels strongly that the transfer of product-oriented competencies can accelerate the acceptance of Compaq/Novell solutions among our enterprise-class customers," Wolyniec said. "The fact that Compaq's list of enterprise-class customers is nearly identical to that of Novell makes a partnership such as this one a natural fit. I am certain that all of our many common customers will find value in this relationship."

As a Novell ECP, Compaq will receive access to Novell's consulting methodologies which can be transferred to customers to help give them a broader understanding of the range of Novell solutions. By providing on-site skill transfer workshops, evaluation software and innovative technical support, Compaq will help customers deploy enterprise-wide business solutions based on Novell products.

Novell's ECP program was specifically created to ease the design, installation and support of large, enterprise-wide Novell networks for customers. The program accomplishes this with an elite group of the industry's leading systems integrators and consulting organizations.

Compaq's ECS team offers a portfolio of services which support the mission of Novell's Enterprise Consulting Partner program, including:

• IT Architectural Services: To identify existing or emerging technologies that meet customers' IT plan requirements.
• High Availability Design: To assist in the planning and development of highly available configurations and disaster prevention strategies that support customers' business goals. These strategies include backup and recovery solutions, alternate site contingency plans, hardware redundancy, networked-shared storage devices and non-stop peripheral options.
• Enterprise Management Solutions: Compaq ECS will leverage its product expertise to assist customers in the successful integration of products such as Novell's ManageWise into their enterprise IT architecture.
• Testing and Proof of Concept Services: Allows for the creation of feasible integration, system sizing, application performance and scalability test plans.
• Application Performance Review Services: Provides for analysis of baseline performance, identification and resolution of inherent design flaws that inhibit the performance or functionality of the customers' business application.

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.

For more information regarding Compaq's sponsorship or the equipment provided for the "Rock the Net" Consulting Partners tour, please contact Starla Cox, in the Compaq NA Enterprise Marketing organization at 281-927-8441.

Press Contact:
Jonathan Cohen
Phone: 408-577-7268
Internet: jcohen@novell.com