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Technology Stocks : Novell (NOVL) dirt cheap, good buy? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Peter Connolly who wrote (20837)	3/7/1998 9:54:00 PM
From: DJBEINO	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42771

NOVELL: Granada broadcasts the benefits of Novell Presswire - March 06, 1998 14:32 M2 PRESSWIRE-6 March 1998-NOVELL: Granada broadcasts the benefits of Novell (C)1994-98 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD -- Media company integrates intraNetWare with NT across network Granada Media Group, the UK's leading media organisation is implementing Novell intraNetWare, NDS and Novell Application Launcher as part of a project to upgrade and standardise the group's network of 2,500 users. The project, worth GBP 70,000, is first being implemented in the group's Laser airtime sales division and will be rolled out to all six sites over the next 18 months. According to Luan Thompson, head of IT Operations at Granada Media Group, choosing Novell intraNetWare was easy: "The complexity of our network and the fact that our sites are distributed across the country meant that we needed a solution that was reliable, efficient and resilient, and enabled remote management of other sites. The superior file and print services of NetWare combined with the proven directory services that NDS provides made intraNetWare the obvious choice." All users of the network utilise file and print services, Unix application services, email and Internet access. In looking to achieve a seamless environment and an easily managed desktop, Granada chose Novell Application Launcher (NAL) as the best product able to deliver. Thompson added: "NAL provides us with the facility to manage what the user sees and easily manage the distribution of applications. After evaluating an alternative product, we found that no product could match NAL's easy integration into the network and ability to significantly reduce the amount of support required to service the network. Total cost of network ownership is important to us and NAL has enabled us to provide superior levels of control over the network while minimising support costs." Granada Media Group consists of Granada TV, LWT, Yorkshire Tyne Tees and Laser airtime sales. A large proportion of staff are not tied to one particular office, and the implementation of Novell Directory Services and Novell Application Launcher will assist them to log on to the network at any location and work from their own individual set-up. Looking forward, Granada is at present evaluating Novell Replication Services and has plans to build an intranet. As the project develops Novell NDS for NT will also be considered. London-based network resellers and consultants Business Systems Group played a key role in the implementation of the Granada network project and is working closely with Granada to deliver a successful business solution. About Business Systems Group Business Systems Group (BSG) is a Novell Platinum Systems House. Based in the City, BSG has become one of the UK's leading and fastest growing suppliers and integrators of IT solutions in the Corporate Environment. BSG focuses on project management and consultancy, working with clients to deliver quality solutions on time, to specification and within budget. With a backbone of industry professionals and long-standing direct business relationships with industry leading vendors, BSG offer the most comprehensive range of IT services in the city. The range of BSG's expertise includes Consulting, Networking and Integration, Infrastructure and Cabling, Product Supply, Support, Training, Office Design and Multimedia Design. BSG employs 230 staff and in 1997 turned over GBP 50 million. About Novell Founded in 1983, Novell (NASDAQ: NOVL) 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 programmes. Information about Novell and its complete range of products and services can be accessed on the World Wide Web at novell.com. CONTACT: Julian Hargood/Ngaire Moyes, Firefly Communications Tel: +44 (0)171 381 4505 e-mail: jhargood@firefly.co.uk Sue Harker, Novell Tel: +44 (0)1344 724312 e-mail: sue_harker@novell.com

To: Peter Connolly who wrote (20837)	3/8/1998 12:56:00 PM
From: ToySoldier	Respond to of 42771

Peter, I will let the horse's mouth explain what is in NT 5.0. Following web site is Microsoft's overview of NT 5.0: microsoft.com Basics are that they will implement Active Directory Services (aka MAD), extend SMP support beyond 2 nodes and load-balancing service, implement many of the little things that restrict NT from being classified an Enterprise capable server (better fault tolerance, on-the-fly reconfigs, etc.), improve on Application development foundation, attempt to make the NT network C2 certified even if only to Orange Book level (currently IntranetWare is the only NETWORK level platform that is C2 certified). I believe that the published dates for NT 5.0 are for late 1998, but all rumors are that not to expect the production release until Q1-Q2 of 1999 and even that may be without MAD. To the amazement of the industry, Microsoft has still not provided any action plan to their Corporate customer on how they will handle Y2K with the current versions of NT and their back-office products. If I were an NT centric corporate customer, I would be very nervous as some of the Y2K impact will start to be felt as early as this year. I would hope Microsoft will not expect their customers to go to NT 5 as an action plan to resolving Y2K (they wouldn't be that stupid). Because even after NT 5.0 is released, the product is going to have to prove itself in the real world before any smart IT Director would seriously contemplate implementing NT 5 and MAD. (Look how long it took for Novell to pull their current clients to move from Bindery Services to NDS - they are still in the process of doing it and NDS is now the most mature production Directory Service in the industry). To be fair though, since Microsoft's up-coming MAD is not a true "federated directory service" and only a cleanup and enhancement of their current Domain architecture, the migration to the up-coming MAD should not be as painful. ToySoldier