Novell Announces Roadmap for Next-Generation Identity Services

• Novell to simplify identity management and services-oriented applications with new visual tools based on the Eclipse open source development framework
• Strategy also entails significant enhancements to its user provisioning capabilities through pre-built identity management applications using Novell exteNd technology

Novell today announced its strategy to help customers significantly reduce the time and cost required to design and configure sophisticated identity management systems through next-generation tools. These tools will be based on the open source Eclipse framework and will allow administrators to visually architect and build a sophisticated identity foundation. Novell will also combine its Nsure™ and exteNd™ technologies to provide advanced identity management applications for enhanced user provisioning with workflow and powerful corporate directories to dramatically simplify the deployment of identity-based services.

"Identity management can be a complex problem, particularly if you want to go beyond basic issues to fully leverage the power of identity across your organization," said Chris Stone, Novell vice chairman - Office of the CEO. "Novell is continually innovating to make it easier for organizations to manage users and their identities and to leverage them through identity-based applications that have a real business impact. Novell is a recognized market leader in identity management technology, and our roadmap puts us further ahead."

The new Eclipse-based visual tools planned for future releases of Nsure Identity Manager will provide a point-and-click interface for customers to visually define models, policies and rules for their identity infrastructure without having to write any code. This will enable the rapid deployment of a strong identity foundation while still delivering a high degree of flexibility, so that the identity management solution can be easily adapted to reflect an organization's dynamic business environment.

Novell will also provide pre-built identity applications that have enhanced user provisioning with workflow capabilities based on the award-winning Novell® exteNd technology. For example, ready-to-use portals will enable the dynamic generation of complex corporate directories and organizational charts that display multiple levels of hierarchy with multiple view criteria. When individuals change roles or take on new responsibilities, managers can easily re-provision the employee by dragging and dropping the employee's profile within the organization chart.

Earl Perkins, an analyst in META Group's Security & Risk Strategies practice, noted, "Many companies are seeing that identity management isn't some single monolithic application or service that can be implemented and administered by one group or organization - rather it is a business-driven solution that may require bringing together products and tools that lend themselves to intuitive, visual design and development extensibility. Vendors who innovate and provide that capability in their solutions are likely to get attention from customers looking for real identity management."

As part of this roadmap for identity-based services, future releases of Novell exteNd will support an Eclipse-based design and development environment, as well as provide support for the Linux desktop. Furthermore, the next version of Novell exteNd will offer increased connectivity to systems such as Lawson, PeopleSoft, JD Edwards, Siebel, Oracle Financials and Baan based on iWay Intelligent Adapters. Novell will continue to provide customers with its unique visual integration environment and intuitive drag-and-drop approach to integration for these additional systems.

"Novell is unique in being able to offer the powerful combination of a secure identity management and Web services platform to enable enterprise agility for our customers," said David Litwack, Novell senior vice president of Nsure and exteNd. "With Eclipse as the common design environment for both Novell Nsure and exteNd, customers will benefit from the tighter integration to directly apply security policies and rules to applications through visual tools. This provides a powerful advantage for customers looking to receive a high cumulative return on their investment for identity management and services-oriented architecture."

A preview of these technologies can be seen at this week's BrainShare conference.

About Novell
Novell, Inc. (Nasdaq: NOVL) is a leading provider of information solutions that deliver secure identity management (Novell Nsure), Web application development (Novell exteNd™) and cross-platform networking services (Novell Nterprise™), all supported by strategic consulting and professional services (Novell Ngage^SM). Active in the open source community with its Ximian® and SUSE® LINUX brands, Novell provides a full range of Linux products and services for the enterprise, from the desktop to the server. Novell's vision of one Net - a world without information boundaries - helps customers realize the value of their information securely and economically. For more information, call Novell's Customer Response Center at (888) 321-4CRC (4272) or visit http://www.novell.com. Press should visit http://www.novell.com/pressroom.

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