Novell Unveils its Strategy for Delivering Secure, Directory-enabled Web Services with Novell exteNd and Nsure Solutions

• Combines standards-based integration, interaction and secure identity management capabilities to provide organizations with a comprehensive services-oriented architecture for building and securing advanced, J2EE-based Web services applications
• Provides a standards-based framework for rapidly delivering Novell's one Net vision of a world without information boundaries to help customers realize the value of their information securely and economically

Advancing its one Net vision of a world without information boundaries, Novell today unveiled its strategy for building advanced Web applications with its Novell® exteNd™ and Nsure™ solution families. The Novell exteNd suite, acquired with SilverStream Software, enables IT organizations to rapidly build applications that integrate existing systems and deliver dynamic, interactive portal solutions. Novell Nsure helps businesses get the right resources to the right people - anytime, anywhere by simplifying the management of user identities and securing access to enterprise applications. When combined, Novell exteNd and Nsure solutions deliver the industry's most comprehensive services-oriented architecture for building and securing J2EE*- and Web services-based applications.

"The driving force behind Novell's acquisition of SilverStream was to deliver the benefits of our complementary solutions and expand our one Net vision, a strategy that we outline here today," said David Litwack, senior vice president of Novell's Web application development products. "By integrating Novell exteNd with other Novell solutions, we deliver the integration, interaction and identity management capabilities that organizations require to build end-to-end Web services solutions."

Novell's strategy for providing secure directory-enabled Web services has been well received by customers, partners and industry experts. In the recently published Gartner 2003 Application Platform Suite (APS) Magic Quadrant that covers vendors that provide integration, portal, application server and application development technologies, Novell was included in the visionary quadrant.* 

Integration: Liberating Systems and Orchestrating New Business Processes
Novell provides a powerful integration and business process management solution with the Novell exteNd Composer™ product family. exteNd Composer features a visual drag-and-drop interface that enables IT organizations to map and transform data and transactions from mainframes, AS/400s, legacy VAX/VMS systems, UNIX* environments, relational databases, transaction processes including EDI, ERP systems, and many other legacy and Web-based applications into XML. The exteNd Composer Process Manager offers an easy-to-use, visual design environment to orchestrate Web services interactions and create sophisticated, long-running business processes.

Novell has recently added a new Novell exteNd Composer connector for LDAP directories based on Directory Services Markup Language (DSML) to its arsenal of exteNd Composer connectors. The new exteNd Composer LDAP Connect enables users to create integrated applications that store and retrieve information in LDAP directories, including Novell's market-leading eDirectory™. In addition, Novell exteNd Composer now provides connectivity to Unisys* T27 applications such as Clearpath NX Series, LINC and MARC with the exteNd Composer T27 Connect. 

Interaction: Consume and Deliver Web Services Through Personalized Portals
Once information and transactions have been liberated from their single-purpose platforms, they can contribute to new process-driven, composite applications that work across systems and organizational boundaries. Novell exteNd Director™ provides a comprehensive development environment to rapidly deliver today's state-of-the-art interactive applications and portals. Novell exteNd Enterprise Edition provides an extensible framework and highly productive development tools that incorporate several subsystems including content management, workflow and business rules, among others, which make it easier to rapidly deliver and easily maintain rich, personalized Web applications. Novell also provides a Standard Edition of Novell exteNd Director, formerly Novell Portal Services, for customers that need an out-of-the-box solution for rapidly creating personalized portals. 

Looking forward, Novell will be implementing a number of emerging standards within Novell exteNd Director in its next release to deliver powerful new tools for building Web services-based applications. Based on XForms from the W3C and Java* Specification Request (JSR) 168 from the Java Community Process, Novell will deliver a visual development environment that will dramatically reduce the amount of programming necessary to build interactive Web applications. As a result, developers of all skill levels will be able to visually develop standards-based Web applications with Novell exteNd, reducing time-to-market for business-critical applications.

Identity: Secure and Manage Access to Applications
To help IT organizations deliver applications that are tailored to the requirements of individual users, Novell is directory enabling the Novell exteNd product suite. Tight integration with Novell eDirectory allows corporate IT to deliver services and applications securely, based on the identity of the user. As a result, IT organizations will be able to build a security infrastructure into applications created with Novell exteNd. For example, integration with Novell iChain® provides access control to Web-enabled applications; Novell SecureLogin for single-sign-on and password management; and Novell DirXML® to integrate identity information across applications and systems.

Novell has announced a number of Nsure™ product developments that will enhance Novell's vision for secure, directory-enabled Web services with Novell exteNd and Nsure. The Secure Assertions Markup Language (SAML) extension for Novell iChain will enable businesses to securely share authentication and user attribute information with partners and suppliers across the Web. In addition, the Liberty identity provider for Novell eDirectory (based on the Liberty Alliance 1.1 specification) allows businesses to securely establish links among internal, external and partner Web sites, giving users single sign-on between those Web sites via open standards.

Delivering a one Net World Without Information Boundaries
Key to Novell's one Net vision is the ability to deliver solutions across the diverse platforms that comprise today's enterprise data centers. Novell exteNd and Nsure solutions support a wide range of popular operating systems including Linux*, NetWare®, Windows* and Solaris*, among others. Further eliminating IT obstacles, the Novell exteNd product suite has been "Java Verified" for portability across all J2EE-compatible application servers, offering customers unparalleled freedom of choice for deployment platforms.

Novell's commitment to delivering one Net solutions also includes the business and technical expertise to ensure a solid return on investment. Today's advanced Web applications are more complicated than ever before, and Novell NgageSM offers the business management consulting, IT consulting and technical support to ensure every Novell business solution meets objectives. Novell also partners with other industry leaders to deliver its one Net solutions, providing customers with flexibility and choice as they turn to the Web to transform and accelerate business operations.

Availability
Novell exteNd and Nsure products and solutions are available today through Novell and Novell Authorized ResellersSM and solution providers. Visual development tools based on XForms and JSR 168 will be available in Novell exteNd 5, the next major release of the Novell exteNd product suite scheduled to ship this fall. An early access release of the Liberty identity provider for Novell eDirectory is available today, and the SAML extension for Novell iChain will be available later this month.

Developers interested in evaluating Novell products should visit Novell's DeveloperNet® Web site at: http://developer.novell.com/.

 

About Novell
Novell, Inc. is a leading provider of information solutions that deliver secure identity management (Novell Nsure), Web application development (Novell exteNd) and cross-platform networking services (Novell Nterprise), all supported by strategic consulting and professional services (Novell Ngage). Novell's vision of one Net - a world without information boundaries - helps customers realize the value of their information securely and economically. For more information, call Novell's Customer Response Center at (888) 321-4CRC (4272) or visit http://www.novell.com. Press should visit http://www.novell.com/pressroom.

* The Magic Quadrant is copyrighted May 2003 by Gartner, Inc. and is reused with permission, which permission should not be deemed to be an endorsement of any company or product depicted in the quadrant. The Magic Quadrant is Gartner, Inc.'s opinion and is an analytical representation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It measures vendors against Gartner defined criteria for a marketplace. The positioning of vendors within a Magic Quadrant is based on the complex interplay of many factors. Gartner does not advise enterprises to select only those firms in the "Leaders" quadrant. In some situations, firms in the Visionary, Challenger, or Niche Player quadrants may be the right matches for an enterprise's requirements. Well-informed vendor selection decisions should rely on more than a Magic Quadrant. Gartner research is intended to be one of many information sources including other published information and direct analyst interaction. Gartner, Inc. expressly disclaims all warranties, express or implied, of fitness of this research for a particular purpose.

Novell, NetWare, DeveloperNet, DirXML, and iChain are registered trademarks; eDirectory, exteNd, exteNd Composer, exteNd Director, Nsure and Nterprise are trademarks; and Ngage and Novell Authorized Reseller are service marks of Novell, Inc. in the United States and other countries. *All third-party trademarks are the property of their respective owners.