Premier Directory-Enabled Solution Now Serves E-mail, Collaboration Tools to 17 Million Users

PROVO, Utah — April 5, 1999 — Novell®, Inc. today announced enhancements, partner support, and Y2K readiness that are powering a new surge of growth for GroupWise® 5.5, its premier e-mail and collaboration solution. GroupWise 5.5 works seamlessly on today's directory-enabled networks that extend the value of the enterprise and the Internet by bridging the gap between them. Enhancements include new client software for seamless access to directory-enabled GroupWise collaboration tools from Microsoft's popular Outlook desktop interface. In addition, new support from third-party collaboration vendors and Y2K readiness have helped GroupWise 5.5 gain momentum as an integral component of the business ecosystem for the 21st century that Novell is building with its customers and partners.

Since first shipments seven months ago, GroupWise 5.5 has sparked the fastest period of market growth in the history of Novell's GroupWise product line. Now totaling over 17 million seats, the total GroupWise user base grew 50 percent in the last 12 months alone. Customers identify ease of use, Y2K readiness, and dramatically simplified network and application management through integration with Novell Directory Services® (NDS™) as prime reasons for new GroupWise investments.

"We went with Novell's messaging system because it's so easy to implement and inexpensive to maintain — and because of its tight integration with NDS," said John Gusman, director of global network operations for MSX International, an international business services firm based in Auburn Hills, Mich., that recently switched to GroupWise from cc:Mail. "In just one night we were able to roll out GroupWise to our 70 worldwide sites on four continents and effectively eliminate the unnecessary costs and excuses associated with our old messaging system."

GroupWise Plug-In for Outlook

GroupWise Plug-In for Outlook™ enables the Microsoft Outlook client to work flawlessly with a GroupWise Collaboration server. This integration allows users to choose the desktop client environment they prefer: Novell's GroupWise, the Outlook interface pre-installed on many desktop systems, or both GroupWise and Outlook in the same enterprise or local environment. In addition, IT administrators can now centrally manage both GroupWise and Outlook users through NDS, enabling organizations to preserve their legacy investments in Outlook while moving forward with high-performance network architectures.

GroupWise Plug-In for Outlook allows users to work effortlessly with the collaboration features they need — e-mail, calendaring, scheduling, appointments, contact management and integrated third-party applications and plug-ins, including third-party Outlook add-ons and plug-ins. GroupWise Plug-In for Outlook is not an emulation or conversion of Outlook, but an interoperability solution that allows full use of the Outlook client with robust and easy-to-use GroupWise services. Novell expects to make GroupWise Plug-In for Outlook available shortly as a download from www.novell.com.

Partner Support

As Novell rolls out its business plan for the networked economy, leading third-party developers are taking advantage of NDS and directory-enabled solutions, such as GroupWise 5.5, to create the next generation of network-based tools and applications. Many of these partners showcased that support at Novell's BrainShare '99 conference last week in Salt Lake City. These include:

• JetForm Corp. — The market-leader in electronic forms and workflow products that transform business processes into e-processes now integrates with GroupWise 5.5. Using JetForm's intelligent XML-based Internet forms solution, FormFlow99, and InTempo, the company's enterprise workflow engine, GroupWise customers can automate essential business processes within their organization. The combination of JetForm and GroupWise dramatically reduces costs and time associated with administering a wide range of business tasks, resulting in greater productivity and organizational profitability. Specific enhancements resulting from the integration include:
  • FormFlow99 XML-based forms can be routed around an organization via GroupWise 5.5
  • FormFlow99 XML-based forms can be checked in and out of GroupWise 5.5 Document Management Libraries
  • FormFlow99 XML-based forms can be viewed through either the 32-bit Windows GroupWise client or the WebAccess client
  • FormFlow99 XML-based forms can be hosted on a NetWare 5 Netscape Web Server
  • Because FormFlow99 is based on COM, it can integrate Novell Directory Services information into forms via Novell's ActiveX Controls
  • InTempo can integrate with GroupWise 5.5 to provide e-mail delivery of workflow tasks
  • InTempo eliminates traditional boundaries by extending workflow tasks to the Internet, allowing uninhibited workflow between disparate environments and across various platforms

• Puma Technologies — By integrating GroupWise 5.5 with the premier synchronization products on the market, IntelliSync and IntelliSync Anywhere, GroupWise users now have a fast, reliable and efficient way to update appointments, important addresses, pressing tasks and e-mail messages to a PalmPilot. Now, GroupWise users have the freedom and the flexibility to access critical business information from virtually anywhere.

Other messaging and collaboration partner solutions featured at BrainShare included Metastorm's InForms and e-work, Network Associates' PGP for GroupWise, IntelliReach's GroupWise Message Management, Psion Series 5's integration with GroupWise, GroupLink's GLForms, Syclo's Information Mangager Server, CompuLink's ViewWise, Nexall's NexCard SQL, and many others.

Y2K Ready

As organizations struggle to prepare their IT systems for the Year 2000, many companies are addressing their Y2K concerns by adopting the Y2K-ready GroupWise 5.5.

"The Year 2000 was definitely one of the major factors that drove our decision to convert our messaging system to GroupWise from cc:Mail, but it wasn't the only reason," said Gusman. "Certainly, we wanted a solution that could safely and confidently move us into the Millenium, but we also needed to improve the reliability and speed of our internal and external communication.

"Over the past two years, MSX has been on the merger and acquisition fast track, which left us with a lot of internal e-mail systems — everything from cc:Mail to MS Mail — and also left us with a lot of headaches," Gusman said. "The remedy for those headaches was NDS and GroupWise."

Integration with Novell Directory Services

GroupWise 5.5's tight integration with NDS gives users and administrators unique and unmatched capabilities. While users enjoy the freedom and security to access their e-mail from any Web browser anywhere in the world, NDS provides system administrators with a global directory and single point of administration for GroupWise. This single point of administration makes the set up, configuration and maintenance of GroupWise domains, post offices, libraries, gateways, users and resources a very easy, affordable process. The advantages of this integration are available on an even larger scale with the upcoming release of NDS v. 8 — the world's most reliable and scalable directory service.

About Novell

Novell, Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVL) is the world's leading provider of directory-enabled networking software. Novell solutions give businesses total control of their private networks and the Internet, simplifying the management of user access and identity. Novell's worldwide channel, consulting, developer, education and technical support programs are the most extensive in the network computing industry.

For information on Novell's complete range of products and services, contact Novell's Customer Response Center at (888) 321-4CRC (4272), or visit Novell's Web site at http://www.novell.com. Press may access Novell announcements and company information on the World Wide Web at http://www.novell.com/pressroom.

Novell, GroupWise and Novell Directory Services are registered trademarks, and NDS and GroupWise Plug-In for Outlook are trademarks of Novell, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective holder.

Press Contacts:
Shannon Shupe
Novell, Inc.
Phone: (801) 228-5126
Internet: sshupe@novell.com

Shawn Dickerson
Novell, Inc.
Phone: (801) 228-7239
Internet: sdickerson@novell.com