Novell and Atos Origin Announce Strategic Net Services Partnership

Novell, Inc., the leading provider of Net services software, today announced that it is partnering with Atos Origin, Inc., one of the world's largest end-to-end, full lifecycle business solution integrators, to supply international enterprise directory solutions to major multinationals. Through the affiliation with Atos Origin, Novell is able to deliver its one Net strategy into new and existing customers. Novell and Atos Origin will work together in bringing Net services software like NDS® eDirectory and DirXML into the ERP market, expanding both organizations' overall eBusiness proposition. The integration of eDirectory in the Enterprise Infrastructure Management (EIM) services provided by Atos Origin offers customers optimized ERP and eBusiness management within their "extended" enterprise and facilitates any future value-chain integration.

"Our customers are looking for ways to simplify administration for security, identity and resource management across intranets, extranets and the Internet. The combination of Novell's Net services software and the ERP and lifecycle management capabilities of Atos Origin, allow our corporate customers to accelerate their transition towards eBusiness," said Alex Salehi, Novell vice president of Professional Services. As part of the initial partnership agreement, Atos Origin will provide NDS eDirectory services from its operating centers in Europe, the United States and the Asia Pacific region. "Within a modern extended enterprise there is a growing need for employees, business partners and customers to access ever-increasing amounts of information. The reliable and secure intra-enterprise and inter-enterprise connectivity is a growing business-critical issue in today's fast-moving, global eBusiness landscape. The partnership with Novell will ensure that Atos Origin can provide its customers with the product and services solutions to deal with these underlying problems," said Atos Origin's Ken Cameron, Vice President North America, Managed Services. Partner Training and Awareness
Sales training will be provided as part of the initial rollout in Europe, and Atos Origin consultants will receive extensive training on Novell's Net services software technologies and deployment strategies. The companies also plan joint promotional activities targeting their customer base. Customer Services
Novell and Atos Origin have signed a Preliminary Partnership Agreement tailored to fit the business needs of global customers. Atos Origin and Novell are committed to put forward this combined value-added proposition to their respective established/new customer bases, as already demonstrated with a pilot ERP integration project in a major Dutch bank. Joint commitment reflected in the preliminary alliance will be further elaborated in the full partnering and licensing agreements. Novell will offer support to Atos Origin through its Customer Service Center and Atos Origin will provide consultancy, design, implementation and managed operations services to eDirectory customers. About Atos Origin
Atos Origin is a leading provider of end-to-end information technology and e-business solutions and services that enable clients to turn their business objectives into value-driven results. The company's 27,000 employees deliver innovative solutions and strong industry experience to better manage the entire value network for companies, extended enterprises and e-communities. Atos Origin currently operates in more than 30 countries worldwide, with sales of $2.4 billion ($US) in 1999. In North America, Atos Origin, previously know as Origin Technology in Business, operates out of eight main locations, including South Plainfield (NJ), Irvine (CA), Dallas (TX), Chicago (IL), Cincinnati (OH), Columbus (OH), Toronto and Mexico City. Customers include Lucent Technologies, NCR, Nortel, Philip Morris, Philips, Shell, Unilever and others primarily in the high-tech electronics, chemical/pharmaceutical, discrete manufacturing and consumer packaged goods industries. For more information, visit the company Web site at http://www.atosorigin.com About Novell
Novell, Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVL), is the leading provider of Net services software that delivers services to secure and power all types of networks the Internet, intranets, and extranets; wired to wireless; corporate and public across leading operating systems. Novell's Net services software provides the foundation for one Net a single global network that supports new applications and forms of business. Worldwide channel, consulting, education and technical support programs, along with strategic alliances, combine Novell Net services software with third-party products and services to form complete Net solutions.

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Novell and NDS are registered trademarks, and DirXML and eDirectory are trademarks of Novell, Inc. in the United States and other countries. *All third-party trademarks are the property of their respective owners.