Novell exteNd 4 Helps Organizations Rapidly Integrate Existing Systems and Deliver Interactive Web Applications

To help organizations realize the full potential of their existing information and technology assets, Novell today announced the general availability of Novell® exteNd™ 4. An integrated suite for the development of advanced Web applications, Novell exteNd makes it easier to quickly build standards-based applications that leverage information within and across business boundaries and deliver it to new audiences in a relevant way.

Customers, partners and employees need greater and easier access to business information - regardless of where it resides - to be effective. Yet IT organizations have traditionally been forced to choose between proprietary solutions that are easy to implement but result in limited, disparate applications, and standards-based options that require new skill sets and significant time and expense to implement. Novell exteNd bridges the gap created by skills, time, budget and standards limitations to simplify and accelerate the development of flexible, standards-based Web applications that deliver the information and services that people need to be successful.

"We chose Novell exteNd because it was the most intuitive and adaptable of the products that we evaluated," said Bill Bugbee, CEO of TradeTrans Inc., a leading eBusiness services exchange provider. "We needed to address the varied operating needs of our customers, including service support of both EDI and XML environments. Because it is built to industry standards such as J2EE* and Web services, Novell exteNd also offered a technology foundation that addresses both current and future customer requirements. Rapid deployment, ease-of-use, scalability and a track record of performance were each key criteria in our due diligence process of available technology options. Novell exteNd passed the test, enabling us to move from design to deployment in less than three months."

""Our focus is on helping organizations leverage their existing technology investments to enhance relationships, improve business processes, and create new revenue opportunities," said John Linss, Managing Director of BravePoint, a Novell Platinum Integrator partner. "Novell exteNd provides the technology we require to build sophisticated, secure applications that meet ever more demanding customer requirements. Moreover, Novell's commitment to productivity and standards ensures that our consultants will be successful, and that our customers will experience long-term benefits from the flexible, future-proof solutions we implement with Novell exteNd."

Enhancing the Developer and End User Experience with Powerful Presentation Capabilities
Novell exteNd is designed to make it easier to build advanced Web-based applications that integrate existing systems and deliver dynamic, interactive solutions. With this release, Novell has significantly enhanced Novell exteNd's portal functionality and presentation capabilities. For the end user, Novell exteNd provides a number of different layouts and a visual, drag-and-drop customization tool to personalize the portal experience. Developers can define the visual characteristics of a portal by easily creating themes, as well as use decorators and other tools to define presentation. Novell exteNd 4 also includes a number of enhancements designed to improve productivity, extensibility and performance.

Delivering on the Promise of Interoperability
Java* 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) and Web services technologies provide the promise of interoperability, but despite the existence of standards, vendor implementations can vary. Novell's commitment to industry standards ensures that applications built with Novell exteNd will be interoperable and cross-platform compatible with other leading vendor implementations.

Novell exteNd 4 is fully compatible with J2EE 1.3, a Java-based standard for developing enterprise applications. Novell is among the few vendors to test and support other market-leading J2EE compatible application servers, including IBM WebSphere* and BEA WebLogic*, to deliver true J2EE portability with Novell exteNd. In addition, Novell exteNd has been extensively tested to ensure interoperability with leading Web services implementations, including Microsoft Visual Studio .NET* and IBM WebSphere Studio Application Developer.

Availability and Pricing
Novell exteNd 4 Enterprise is priced at $90,000 per server CPU and is available immediately through Novell's global sales organization at 1-888-823-9700 or 1-978-262-3000. For more information, please visit: http://www.novell.com/extend