Novell Announces Immediate Availability of Enterprise-Ready Product, instantme

• Provides a Fast and Reliable Communications Vehicle on the Internet
• Enables Businesses to Enhance Communications with Partners, Customers and Suppliers
• Extends Instant Messaging Inside the Enterprise

Novell, Inc., a leading supplier of Net services software, today announced immediate availability of instantme, an instant messaging client that provides a fast and reliable communications vehicle on the Internet. Targeted at businesses, instantme extends the ability for users to communicate in real-time with partners, suppliers and customers as well as take part in private conversations that demand quick response. In addition, instantme users can create and manage group lists, monitor when their associates and co-workers are online, and communicate with AOL's Buddy List Network - the world's largest instant messaging community, comprised of AOL members and AOL Instant Messenger users. Novell plans to release a secure version of instantme in Q2, the industry's first secure instant messaging product, that will integrate encryption and digital certificates in order to increase trust between two or more parties and ensure integrity and confidentiality of messages exchanged over the Internet. The secure version of instantme will be demonstrated at the Brainshare(r) 2000 Technology Lab.

instantme leverages the power of Novell's NDS eDirectory and digitalme identity services platform, delivering a highly secure and scalable foundation for delivering instant messaging functionality that is business-ready. Utilizing the directory, instantme stores users' business contact information and makes it available from anywhere on the Net. By offering roaming capabilities and real-time access to important contact information, digitalme allows users to respond quickly to urgent matters no matter where they are or what station they're working from.

"Today's instant messaging products are focused on enabling consumer-to-consumer communication. While these products have become ingrained in the consumer market, enterprises have started to realize the need to deliver a communication medium for quick messages," said Dave Shirk, senior vice president of product management at Novell. "Novell is addressing the enterprise market with instantme. It enables eBusinesses to quickly communicate with co-workers and trading partners on the Internet."

"Our partnership with Novell brings instant messaging to both their large base of existing users and new customers," said David Gang, AOL's senior vice president of Strategic Development. "Leveraging the AOL Instant Messenger infrastructure and their business expertise, Novell has provided an instant messaging product that is targeted at helping eBusinesses securely and quickly communicate with their business partners and customers."

Instant Messaging in the Enterprise

Instant messaging is an ideal application for the enterprise because it provides a much-needed medium for quick, perishable responses, such as those requesting time-sensitive coordination or short-fuse decisions. In today's competitive environment, eBusinesses can't rely on e-mail alone to communicate with partners and suppliers because e-mail exchanges may take too long for problem resolution due to delayed download or e-mail policies. Instant messaging applications like instantme show the availability of a user and enable eBusinesses to quickly communicate on the Net.

"Enterprises are starting to understand the need to provide users with a communication medium that supports quick perishable messages on the Net. Novell's instant messaging strategy addresses the enterprise need for instant messaging services that integrate with enterprise directories and enable content confidentiality," commented James Kobielus, an industry analyst at The Burton Group.

instantme Availability

instantme is a free download that supports Win 95, Win 98, NT and Win 2000. Users can download the software today from http://www.novell.com/instantme.

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/advantage.

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