Novell Helps Wilfrid Laurier University Provide Students and Faculty with Anytime, Anywhere Access to Network Resources

Novell Canada Ltd., the leading provider of Net business solutions, today announced it has been selected by Wilfrid Laurier University to fulfill the university's desktop network needs. Novell will provide the 11,000 full- and part-time students, staff and faculty at the Waterloo, Ontario, post-secondary institution with anytime, anywhere, access to network resources, improving user productivity, reducing network operating costs and adapting to student and faculty growth.

The project was undertaken in two phases, with phase one beginning in October 2001 when the university selected Novell® NetWare 6®, Novell's premier platform for delivering Net services across all types of networks, storage platforms and client desktops, to provide students with improved network access. The university also selected Novell Internet Messaging System™ (NIMS) as the standardized e-mail and calendaring system. As a result, students can log in, authenticate and access their campus-wide e-mail system with a single password, through a Web browser from anywhere. Phase one was completed this January. Due to its immediate success, phase two of the project, which aims at providing the same access to all faculty members and staff, has already begun. Faculty and staff are transitioning to NetWare 6, while the e-mail implementation will take place later this spring.

Laurier selected Novell for its proven technology, experience and success in the education sector. Novell provides the university with flexible and reliable solutions that respond to the growing needs of the faculty and staff. The university was particularly impressed with Novell's commitment in delivering a comprehensive, customized solution set and round-the-clock support and services for its small IT department. Novell's cross-platform capabilities also mean its products can integrate seamlessly with the university's multiple operating systems, including Linux and Solaris, as well as a variety of other applications and third-party software.

With the new solutions in place, the university is well prepared to accommodate the expected influx of double-cohort students. An estimated 90,000 additional students will be entering colleges and universities in 2003-2004 following the Ontario government's 1997 decision to cut year 5, or the OAC year, from the Ontario high school program. Laurier expects the size of its first-year class will grow by 20 percent - from 2275 students in 2002 to 2742 in 2003.

"Novell has exceeded our expectations, providing us with everything we need and more," said Raj Govindarajan, Director of Information Technology Services at Laurier. "The solutions will continue to scale and respond as the size and scope of our IT needs grow and evolve over the coming years. Our transition to Novell NetWare over the Christmas break was so smooth and seamless that the majority of students didn't even notice the change. That's exactly the type of technology and support we need."

Phase One - Anytime, Anywhere Access for Students

For phase one, the university used two Novell products to achieve its goal of providing students with anywhere access to the campus e-mail system: Novell NetWare 6 and NIMS.

NIMS 3.0 is a scalable, high-performance e-mail and calendaring system based on Internet-standard messaging and security protocols which allows users to connect to a scalable, secure e-mail and calendaring system from anywhere at anytime.

NetWare 6's iPrint capabilities allow students at home or in their dormitory to print to any printer they are authorized to use on campus, regardless of its location or whether it is in front of or behind a firewall - something that was previously unheard of at the university. For example, a chemistry student, while at home, can print a document to a printer located in the chemistry lab, thereby simplifying, securing and accelerating the document printing processes. Novell iPrint is also based on Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) and helps reduce network maintenance costs by providing university administrators with a single point of management for all networked printers.

Phase Two - Updating the Faculty and Staff IT Network

In phase two of the project, faculty and staff at Laurier will also receive anytime, anywhere access to school data through NetWare 6. They will use Novell GroupWise®, a fully integrated, easy-to-use messaging system that offers a wide range of powerful communication and collaboration capabilities, as their standardized e-mail system.

Additional Novell products which will also be implemented in phase two include:

ZENworks for Servers® and ZENworks for Desktops®: Novell ZENworks products centralize, automate and simplify every aspect of network management from distributing vital information across the enterprise to maintaining consistent policies on desktops, servers and devices. These products allow Laurier's IT team to distribute software, files, and applications, monitor the network's usage and health and enforce network policies, all from a central location, saving valuable time and resources.

Novell Account Management™: Novell Account Management 2.1 simplifies and unifies the management of user profiles on multiple platforms including NetWare, Windows 2000, Windows NT, Solaris and Linux networks. It eliminates many of the complexities of administering a mixed-platform network while smoothing over compatibility issues.

Novell® eDirectory™ 8.6.1: eDirectory 8.6.1 is a directory-based identity management system that centralizes the management of user identities, access privileges and other network resources at the university.

Throughout the process, Novell Education has worked closely with Laurier's IT team, training them on Novell products and how they can be used in the university environment to their full potential.

"Novell is proud to work with educational institutions like Wilfrid Laurier who understand the value in providing students, faculty and staff with the proper tools and technology to succeed," said Don Chapman, Vice President and General Manager, Novell Canada Ltd. "We look forward to forging a long-term relationship with the university to ensure its students, staff and faculty possess the technology to make learning and communication easier."