Novell's Secure Partner Portal Solution Helps Companies Extend Strategic Partnerships Across the Net

• Organizations Gain Improved Ability To Securely Share Information, Collaborate, And Transact With Distributors, Suppliers, And Key Customers Over The Web
• Novell Partnership With BEA Joins Leading Directory And Security Services With Powerful Open-Standards Based E-Business Platform
• Second Novell "Jump Start" Solution Brings Benefits Of Novell Technology And Cambridge Technology Partner Business Process Expertise To Market

Novell, Inc., a leader in eBusiness solutions and Net services software, today announced the availability of Novell Secure Partner Portal, a solution aimed at helping companies build reliable and secure relationships with partners across the Net cost-effectively. Novell® Secure Partner Portal, the second "Jump Start" solution launched by Novell and its recently acquired Cambridge Technology Partners® eServices division, builds on Novell eDirectory™, a proven secure and scalable identity management technology, to manage partner access and on Cambridge's extensive customer expertise in the creation of business portals. BEA Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: BEAS) has partnered with Novell to deliver additional value to customers by providing the BEA WebLogic E-Business Platform™ as the underlying infrastructure for the Secure Partner Portal, ensuring that customers can leverage the leading open standards-based e-Business platform on the market. Novell Secure Partner Portal provides a reliable, scalable, and secure way for companies to extend their enterprise to the Net, streamlining processes and building relationships more effectively.

In a tough economy, organizations are under intense pressure to drive revenue, reduce costs and increase efficiency. Few companies go it alone; most have developed strategic partnerships with distributors, suppliers, and their key customers to help meet these goals. Making sure partners have the information they need to do business is critical, both to drive new business and to be more efficient with existing relationships. But collaborating with partners is challenging. Many business-critical assets are inaccessible to partners. Establishing points of interaction and integrating processes, applications, databases and legacy systems is complex and expensive. When working across the Net, security is critical: organizations need to ensure that they have precise control over access to their valuable corporate information.

"We have long believed that distributed administration and tight security are critical components for successfully connecting with distributor channel partners through the web, and we have been reaping the benefits of this for some time," says Don Louis, President of CoLinx. "We will continue to seek ways to drive down costs through secure, open standards-based web solutions like those offered by Novell-Cambridge."

Novell Secure Partner Portal extends business-critical information to partners through a trusted environment with precision access control. By using Novell Secure Partner Portal, organizations can open up their information and applications to their key partners while maintaining tight security over enterprise assets, ensuring partners see only what they are authorized to see. Based on proven technology and business practices tested in multiple consulting engagements, this solution can be deployed rapidly without compromising on security or ease of management, delivering a better way to interact with partners while also keeping costs down.

A strong combination

Core Novell and BEA technologies provide a compelling, proven platform for a partner portal solution. Novell's iChain® enables companies to have employees, customers, and partners securely authenticate to and access the organization's information without adding management complexity to the network. This gives companies the power to control who has access to their network at a very granular level. Novell's DirXML™ integration technology helps link disparate data stores together, providing seamless access for the partner to different corporate applications and systems. BEA brings to the solution additional reliability, scalability, open standards support, and a strong development environment. The BEA WebLogic E-Business Platform introduces portal, transaction, personalization, and integration features into the solution, ensuring that partners can not only get and exchange information easily, but also place orders or execute other actions from within the portal. Tying this together is Cambridge Technology Partners expertise in delivering on multiple industry leading portal projects, including with Office.com, NYK Line, GMAC, eHonda, CoLinx/PTPlace.com, and Agilent Technologies.

"We are pleased that Novell-Cambridge has selected the BEA WebLogic E-Business Platform as the underlying infrastructure for Novell Secure Partner Portal," said John Gray, vice president of global alliances for BEA. "Combined with Novell's leading security and directory services products and Cambridge's track record in delivering partner portal solutions built on BEA, our clients will benefit from the extended capabilities of a world-class, highly-scalable solution for collaborating closely with their partners."

"Companies need ways to not just manage partner relationships, but expand them," said Martin Deise, Senior Vice President of Solutions at Novell. "Paramount to this is the ability to create a trusted environment, with distributed administration, that increases partner loyalty while reducing costs for all parties. Making sure partners have the information they need to do business with you is critical, not just for efficiencies but to drive new business. An easy-to-use, secure, and reliable portal is the best way to make this happen."

Novell's Secure Partner Portal is the second of Novell's Jump Start solutions, which are business solutions being rapidly developed by Novell to take advantage of Novell's technical expertise and the business process experience of Cambridge Technology Partners, acquired by Novell in July 2001. The first Jump Start solution, Novell Identify Provisioning for Peoplesoft, was launched in August 2001.

 

About Novell

Novell, Inc. (NASDAQ: NOVL), is a leader in eBusiness solutions and Net services software designed to secure and power the networked world. Novell and its eServices division, Cambridge Technology Partners, help organizations solve complex business challenges, simplify their systems and processes, and capture new opportunities with one Net solutions. Novell provides worldwide channel, consulting, education and developer programs to support its offerings.

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. Information on eBusiness and integration solutions from Cambridge Technology Partners can be accessed at http://www.ctp.com. Press may access Novell announcements and company information on the World Wide Web at http://www.novell.com/pressroom.

Novell and iChain are registered trademarks, and DirXML and eDirectory are trademarks of Novell, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Cambridge Technology Partners is a registered trademark of Cambridge Technology Partners, Inc. * All third-party trademarks are the property of their respective owners.