Novell eDirectory Surpasses 420 Million Licenses Worldwide

Novell, Inc., the leading provider of Net business solutions, today announced that Novell® eDirectory™ has surpassed 420 million licenses worldwide. With 39 percent growth in just one quarter, eDirectory is the fastest-growing and most widely deployed directory service on the market. The scalability and versatility of eDirectory, including its ability to support more operating systems than any competitor, make eDirectory the only directory service capable of managing user identities across both internal networks and the Internet, as one Net. Companies spanning all industries, from healthcare to government to retail, have deployed eDirectory to manage relationships with millions of internal and external users. Those companies have been able to dramatically reduce the cost and complexity of their networks and strengthen security.

"The whole value of a directory is managing complexity. As businesses manage relationships with rising numbers of users, across increasingly complex systems inside and outside the firewall, they need a directory that is proven, scalable and flexible," said Chris Stone, vice chairman, Office of the CEO, for Novell. "The explosive adoption of eDirectory shows not only that it meets these requirements, but also that the market increasingly favors Novell's approach over that of other directory competitors: We'll integrate the systems you already have, rather than trying to push a single offering from a single vendor for everything from directory services to operating systems to e-mail. Novell's approach gives customers the fastest ROI possible and the flexibility to grow their network at a pace that makes sense for their business."

The unique strengths of eDirectory make it the only directory service capable of managing user identities across both internal networks and the Internet. Internally, eDirectory creates a management hub for today's complex networks. Whereas Microsoft Active Directory* is simply a feature of the Windows* 2000 operating system, eDirectory supports a wide range of platforms, including NetWare®, Windows NT*/2000, Solaris*, Linux*, and soon, AIX*. Support for just a single operating system only serves to create another management silo, adding to - not solving - the complexity of today's heterogeneous networks. eDirectory also has the scalability required to meet the demands of managing users and applications on the Internet. It is the only directory service that has demonstrated scalability to more than one billion objects; and it has shown that on both Intel* and UNIX* architectures. For these reasons, eDirectory is at the center of solutions for provisioning, security, extranet access control and network and identity management. Recent successful directory deployments span a wide range of industries, including:

Healthcare
Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota deployed Novell eDirectory to help manage relationships and control extranet access for nearly 400,000 members. "With a security infrastructure based on iChain and eDirectory, we are able to control user access to sensitive data and resources on the Web based on the user's identity," said Troy Aswege, assistant vice president of IS with Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota. "For example, iChain grants a healthcare industry partner access to a different set of resources than a plan member, all based on the individual's identity and profile in eDirectory. Further, the Novell solution gives us the flexibility to easily adapt our security infrastructure as our eBusiness capabilities grow or as government security standards change."

Telecommunications
BT Leverages Novell Directory-Enabled Security Infrastructure to Simplify and Secure User Access Across Multi-Platform Network
http://www.novell.com/news/press/archive/2002/05/pr02041.html

Government
French Tax Authority Deploys Novell For eGovernment Initiative
http://www.novell.com/news/press/archive/2001/12/pr01117.html

Education
Hartford Public Schools deployed Novell eDirectory and Novell DirXML® to integrate the user information stored across applications and simplify the process of granting or revoking access to those applications. "Our provisioning solution, based on eDirectory and DirXML, has allowed us to link the student and faculty information stored in a number of systems, including Novell NetMail™, our student information database, GroupWise®, and our faculty HR system, Smart Stream HR," said Brian Wiatr, senior systems administrator with Hartford Public Schools. "With it, we don't have to modify or consolidate existing applications and databases - we simply enter information into any designated directory, and DirXML updates it across the entire network. This streamlined process is not only beneficial to our school system, but it's also beneficial to the city. Now, we only need a single e-mail administrator to manage accounts, rather than numerous people managing file services, Internet activity, etc.; and that's a definite cost savings for taxpayers."

Communications
Novell eDirectory at CNN: A Case Study
http://www.novell.com/success/cnn.html

Airline
Lufthansa Takes on Metadirectory Solutions from Novell
http://www.novell.com/news/press/archive/2002/01/pr02009.html

With a strong roadmap that incorporates complete Web-based and wireless management, support for Web services standards such as UDDI, and many other advances, Novell eDirectory will continue to set the standard for identity management across all types of networks. For more information about Novell eDirectory and the solutions it enables, contact a Novell channel partner or go to www.novell.com/products/edirectory.