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Novell Partners with Leading Year 2000 Developer, Greenwich Mean Time, to Prepare Customers for Next Century
PROVO, Utah — August 25, 1998 — Recognizing the immediate need to help businesses prepare for the Year 2000, Novell announced today it will partner with Greenwich Mean Time, the leading developer of Year 2000 software, to bundle that company's Year 2000 risk assessment product with the soon-to-be-released Z.E.N.works™ 1.1. Novell will deliver Z.E.N.works 1.1 with Check 2000 in the fourth quarter of 1998. The Novell and Greenwich Mean Time bundle will help businesses to easily assess their networks for Year 2000 bugs and will assist companies to deploy Year 2000-ready products and apply appropriate manufacturers' recommended fixes to ease the transition for end users and network administrators into the next millennium. In addition to the bundle, Novell will also make a stand-alone version of Check 2000 available to its non-Z.E.N.works customers. Based on the world's leading directory service, Novell Directory Services® (NDS™), Z.E.N.works is Novell's desktop management tool designed to lower network ownership costs by easing administration and increasing end-user productivity. Building on the success of the initial release of Z.E.N.works, version 1.1 will continue to significantly reduce the total cost of owning networked PCs with additional server and desktop operating system support and enhanced management capabilities, easing network administration and network use for end-users. "With only 16 months left until the Year 2000, companies must immediately begin to assess their technology-related Year 2000 issues that have the potential to seriously affect a business' bottom line," said Ed McGarr, vice president of product marketing for Novell. "The combination of Z.E.N.works 1.1 and Check 2000 helps customers reduce the cost of network ownership and eases the transition through the Year 2000. Not only can businesses assess potential problems, they can repair them through software distribution and can monitor their networks through regular checks, furthering their efforts to ensure that end-users can operate as usual as they enter 2000." "We will reach millions of customers with an innovative new way to deploy critical, necessary Year 2000 assessment technology by partnering with Novell, the world's leading directory service provider," said Karl Feilder, president and CEO of Greenwich Mean Time. "With a centralized approach to preparing networks for 2000, businesses will have a fighting chance to maintain network stability into the 21stcentury."
Year 2000 Tools The Year 2000 will bring a host of problems to businesses with software programs that record the year using only the last two digits, according to the Year 2000 Information Center. The three most important stages of network preparation for the Year 2000 are to assess, remedy and maintain readiness. By bundling Greenwich Mean Time's Check 2000 with Z.E.N.works, Novell is providing an effective tool for use in each of the three stages. Greenwich Mean Time's Check 2000 Client Server version 3 is an award-winning, diagnostic and corrective toolset that scans all five layers of PCs, from workstation hardware through software and data for Year 2000 bugs. It will operate as a snap-in to Z.E.N.works 1.1, and alert network administrators to Millennium Bugs on network desktops. Z.E.N.works 1.1 will also allow network managers to deploy their Year 2000-ready applications and patches to all desktops on the network, furthering their efforts to ensure a successful transition to the next century for each end-user on the network. In addition, with Check 2000, Z.E.N.works can be used to continually check the status of networked PCs to maintain a desired state. Z.E.N.works also allows network administrators to use NDS to manage Microsoft policies for NT Workstations that would prevent those users from installing unauthorized applications.
Reduces Total Cost of Ownership Z.E.N.works eases network desktop management through dynamic application management and distribution, and desktop maintenance. Several new features and enhancements in Z.E.N.works 1.1 further increase the speed and efficiency of desktop management, thereby lowering the total cost of network ownership:
Continued Ease of Use for Network Users By making networks easier to use, Z.E.N.works further reduces the cost of network ownership through increased end-user productivity. With Z.E.N.works, network users can concentrate on their business at hand rather than on locating and repairing PC applications. Users can log onto any computer in the network and have their own familiar interface and printer access with Z.E.N.works. To help alleviate typical, everyday application glitches, Z.E.N.works simplifies and speeds resolution to help desk requests by automatically providing hardware and software configurations and error messages to technical support staff via e-mail. "This alliance between a computer services provider and a Year 2000 solutions provider, is welcomed," said Year 2000 expert Peter de Jager, of de Jager& Company Limited. "It is only through alliances such as this, that the Year 2000 problem can be wrestled to the ground. I look forward to similar developments in other areas."
Pricing and Availability Novell will deliver Z.E.N.works 1.1 with Greenwich Mean Time's Check 2000 Client Server to customers in the fourth quarter of 1998. Z.E.N.works 1.1 will include a five-user version of Check 2000 Client Server. Pricing for Z.E.N.works 1.1 and additional licenses for Check 2000 will be announced at a later date. Additional information on Z.E.N.works is available on Novell's Web site at http://www.novell.com/products/zenworks.
About Novell 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, as well as the network computing industry's most comprehensive education and technical support programs. Information about Novell and its complete range of products and services can be accessed on the World Wide Web at http://www.novell.com.
About Greenwich Mean Time Greenwich Mean Time's extensive research and understanding of the year 2000 PC challenge led to the development of the Check 2000 suite of diagnostic and corrective software in 1996. Today Check 2000 is established as the industry standard, due largely to the maturity of the brand and its unprecedented functionality in large scale enterprise projects. Greenwich Mean Time's ongoing investment in research and development continuously advances customers ability to address Year 2000 issues. Karl Feilder, founder and president of the company, is acknowledged worldwide as a year 2000 PC authority. He is an independent advisor to the British, Australian, and South African governments. Headquartered in the UK, Greenwich Mean Time operates as a global company and currently has offices in North America, Europe, Africa and Asia Pacific. Novell, NetWare, Novell Directory Services and ManageWise are registered trademarks and NDS and Z.E.N.works are trademarks of Novell, Inc. Check 2000 and Check 2000 Client Server are registered trademarks of Greenwich Mean Time. All other trademarks are the property of their respective holders.
Press Contacts:
Carrie Merritt
Shirley Fairall
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