Novell and EMC Partner to Provide Seamless Support to Mutual Customers

Novell, Inc., the leading provider of Net services software, and EMC Corporation, the world leader in information storage, today announced an agreement designed to help their joint customers reduce time to resolution of service calls and maximize uptime for business-critical storage-network systems.

19 March 2001

  • Novell-EMC Cooperative Support Agreement designed to help joint customers reduce time to resolution of service calls and maximize uptime for business-critical storage networks
  • Agreement provides seamless technical support to mutual customers holding support contracts with both Novell and EMC
  • Enables companies using Novell-EMC solutions to get more out of their existing technology critical in today's complex multi-vendor IT environments

Novell, Inc., the leading provider of Net services software, and EMC Corporation, the world leader in information storage, today announced an agreement designed to help their joint customers reduce time to resolution of service calls and maximize uptime for business-critical storage-network systems. The new Novell-EMC Cooperative Support Agreement (CSA) enables the companies to provide seamless technical support to their mutual customers by offering a one-call solution for those customers holding support contracts with both Novell and EMC. That cross-company support will enable companies using Novell-EMC solutions to get more out of their existing technology critical in today's complex multi-vendor IT environments.

"Novell's vision of one Net will not become a reality on the strength of products and technologies alone," said Mike Lyons, Novell vice president and general manager of the Novell® Customer Services business unit. "Today's support agreement with EMC is squarely in line with Net market trends, and it illustrates the valuable services component of one Net. Not only do our customers expect that EMC solutions will interoperate with Novell software, but they also expect us to provide an integration of services that will help them ensure continual access to business-critical systems."

The interoperability of network resources and the continual availability of those resources are critical issues for businesses of every kind and size; and the integration of so many distinct systems from a large number of vendors can make identifying the root cause of technical problems a difficult process. The Novell-EMC support agreement greatly simplifies and accelerates this process by establishing a structure of cooperation between Technical Support Professionals at both Novell and EMC — enabling their mutual customers to tap into the combine technical support services of both companies with a single call. This seamless support for Novell and EMC's mutual customers provides those customers the fastest possible resolution to technical issues.

"EMC's market-leading information storage products and services bring reliability and scalability to the management, protection and sharing of business-critical information," said Leo Colborne, EMC's vice president of Global Technical Support. "An important aspect of that reliability is timely technical support. The new agreement with Novell assures our mutual customers that both companies will cooperate fully to ensure the availability of EMC-Novell solutions."

Pricing and Availability
Novell is initially offering this cooperative support program to its Premium Service customers. Novell's support service program provides special support levels for organizations that run critical applications and need a high level of responsiveness. Novell recognizes the special needs of large enterprises by offering its Premium Service support program. For more information about Novell Premium Service, go to www.novell.com/services/premium.

EMC, which is renowned worldwide for its consistently extraordinary customer service, is offering this cooperative support program to all of its customers at no additional cost.

About EMC
EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) is the world leader in information storage systems, software, networks and services, providing the information infrastructure for a connected world. Information about EMC's products and services can be found at www.emc.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.

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. In addition, detailed comparisons between Novell products and competitive offerings from other vendors are available on the Web at http://www.novell.com/competitive.

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