Tuesday September 9 12:00 PM EDT
Company Press Release
Source: Novell, Inc.
Novell Directory-Enabled Services Solve Critical Software
Distribution, NT Integration Problems for Customers
Novell Application Launcher and Novell Administrator for Windows NT
Available Free for Download From World Wide Web
PROVO, Utah, Sept. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of its continued leadership in directory-enabled
network services, Novell, Inc. (Nasdaq:NOVL) today announced that the new Novell Application
Launcher(TM) 2.01 and Novell(R) Administrator for Windows NT 2.0c will continue to be
available to customers free of charge. Novell Application Launcher 2.01 offers customers the most
efficient software distribution and management services in the industry today. Novell Administrator
for NT 2.0c greatly reduces the extensive administration efforts needed to maintain NT domains.
Both solutions help customers reduce the cost of maintaining their networks and applications by
leveraging the power of Novell Directory Services(TM) to automate administration tasks.
``Thanks to these NDS services, networks just got a lot easier,'' said Michael Simpson, director of
marketing, Network Services Group. ``No longer will IT managers and systems administrators need
to touch their workstations to manage and upgrade software or struggle with NT server domains.
These services offload to the network tasks that historically required armies of administrators and
hundreds of hours of effort.''
Industry studies show that companies spend a significant percentage of their annual budgets
managing their network and systems environments*. NDS-based solutions from Novell, such as the
Novell Application Launcher and Novell Administrator for Windows NT, lower the cost of IT by
minimizing the time companies spend maintaining their networked systems. Novell Directory
Services provides the key to Novell's powerful yet easy-to-use administration and management
solution by enabling IS managers to centrally administer all network users, applications, servers, and
services.
``The combination of Novell Application Launcher and Novell Administrator for Windows NT will
save us an enormous amount of grief. We have easily added NT to our IntranetWare environment
and will perform all of our software distribution through a centralized, logical method enabled by
NDS, said Tadd Moore, Systems Engineer at Citicorp. ''If we'd gone with Microsoft's products we
would have spent at least $150,000 more on hardware and software licenses to implement SMS.
And that $150,000 doesn't include soft costs like training and time spent implementing the products.
The fact that Novell's NDS-based products support both IntranetWare and NT has been a
godsend.``
Novell Application Launcher
The Novell Application Launcher (NAL) 2.01 reduces the cost of software management by using
NDS to automatically perform software distribution and updates. NAL also provides users with
location independent access to their applications.
NAL enables IS managers to perform enterprise-wide software distribution from a central location
removing the requirement to visit and physically install software at each desktop. By basing software
distribution on NDS, each application can be distributed to one user or an entire group of users
based on the user's identity and role in the company. NAL is an intuitive windows GUI interface that
does not require IS managers to buy additional equipment or write tedious distribution scripts to
perform effective software management. Because NAL leverages specific user information stored in
NDS, a user installation requiring individual customization work is done automatically. For example:
in a Netscape Navigator installation the IS manager doesn't have to type in the user's SMTP e-mail
address because the address is automatically pulled from NDS by NAL for the installation.
Using NAL, IS managers can choose to either push applications automatically onto the user's
desktop or make the application installation available so the users can pull the software to their
desktop at their convenience.
Eliminating the time-intensive task of manual distribution also increases business productivity
because users can continue working while new applications are added to their systems. A GUI
interface enables users to view the network applications available to them. Network applications are
managed through NDS and so are automatically linked to each user. This allows the applications to
follow users around the network, meaning that no matter where users log in, they always have
access to the network applications they need.
NAL diagnoses and fixes software configuration problems automatically. If a user can't run one of
his or her applications, he or she can simply click the ``verify'' option of the application icon and
NAL automatically checks the application configuration against the reference configuration stored in
NDS. If the application configuration doesn't match because of a missing or corrupted file, NAL
automatically updates the user's desktop with the correct files. This capability can greatly reduce the
number of help desk calls made due to application failure.
Novell Administrator for Windows NT
The new Novell Administrator for Windows NT 2.0c provides the IS manager a single point of
administration for supporting users and groups in mixed IntranetWare(TM)/NetWare(R) and
Windows NT server environments. It allows the IS manager to directly administer users and groups
in server domains through NDS. Novell Administrator for Windows NT does this by synchronizing
Windows NT users with NDS. NDS then acts as the master repository or ``directory'' for all
administration, ensuring that users get secure access to network resources regardless of where and
in what environment those resources are stored.
The new version of the product is streamlined to run 30 percent faster than the original released
product. The Novell Administrator for Windows NT is also now available in English, German,
Spanish, and Japanese to better serve international customer needs.
Pricing and Availability
Novell Application Launcher 2.01 and Novell Administrator for Windows NT 2.0c products can
be downloaded free of charge from Novell's World Wide Web site immediately
(http://www.novell.com/novellsw/brands.html). Users may also call 800-453-1267 for more
information. These products were originally offered free for a limited time only. Now, while both
products will serve as foundations for chargeable services in the future, the Novell Administrator for
Windows NT 2.0c and the base functionality of the Novell Application Launcher (including all
functions in version 2.01) will be free of charge to customers continually.
About Novell
Founded in 1983, Novell is the world's leading provider of network software. The company offers
a wide range of network solutions for distributed network, Internet/intranet and small-business
markets, as well as the network computing industry's most comprehensive education and technical
support programs. Information about Novell and its complete range of products and services can be
accessed on the World Wide Web at novell.com
* Sources: Giga Information Group, 1997; GartnerGroup, 1996
NOTE: Novell is a registered trademark of Novell, Inc. Novell Application Launcher, Novell
Directory Services, and NDS are trademarks of Novell, Inc. All other products are trademarks or
registered trademarks of their respective companies.
SOURCE: Novell, Inc.
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