Vista University, the second largest university in South Africa has made a substantial investment in Novell products through Novell business expert Datacentrix. With 28 500 students, the university has 2 000 workstations at 11 sites countrywide -- all running on Novell servers.
Vista University Network Manager, Waldi van Niekerk firmly believes Novell is the world leader in directory services and its products are very reliable, cost-effective and they have low hardware requirements. "We have chosen Novell`s directory technology, NDS, because it is the unifying, cross-platform infrastructure for managing, securing, accessing and developing to all the major components of our network."
NDS supports more APIs, tools, standards and protocols than any other directory service. The advanced functionality in NDS offers a strong development foundation for delivering secure, manageable network applications. The market-proven and powerful structure of NDS streamlines administrative tasks to minimise management time and expense.
With 16 NetWare servers running, Vista believes it has implemented a network operating system that provides the advantages it needs to move forward in today`s competitive environment. "NetWare offers three key benefits that made it the logical choice: it reduces costs, makes network administration more effective, and provides the network services we need to stay successful," said Van Niekerk.
Van Niekerk describes Novell Border Manager as the complete Internet security management suite that enables Vista to use the power of NDS. "This standards-based suite allows us to cost-effectively deploy firewall and caching services for comprehensive security protection as well as providing faster internet access to all our users ."
Taking advantage of tight integration with NDS, Border Manager Enterprise Edition is the first security management solution to deliver secure single sign-on for users accessing confidential company information from any location - the Internet, intranet or extranet.
"The integration of these security services within NDS provides a direct benefit to me when designing the network. With Border Manager, I can reduce the number of different administration points in my network as well as offer secure single-sign on to my 2 000 users. All you have to do is fire up your browser and Border Manager will validate you and take you out to the Internet safely and securely," added Van Niekerk.
Vista is also in the process of installing Z.E.N.works 1.1, a product which offers several new and enhanced directory-based desktop management capabilities to improve end user and network administrator productivity including Check 2000.
Based on Novell Directory Services (NDS), Z.E.N.works provides software distribution, desktop maintenance and desktop management to make using Windows-based PCs easier for end-users while reducing costly maintenance and troubleshooting tasks for administrators.
"We have opted for Z.E.N.works because it will simplify our network and increase reliability, it will allow our users to concentrate on their job functions rather than the computer network, improving end-user productivity. The unique ability of NDS to create a "digital persona" will enable our users to log onto any computer in the network and have their own familiar interface applications and printer access," said Van Niekerk.
Datacentrix executive director Klaas Lammers says desktop maintenance is the greatest expense in almost every network. "With the first version of Z.E.N.works, many customers eagerly took advantage of the opportunity to use NDS infrastructure in reducing those desktop maintenance costs."
"Now, many customers are in the midst of preparing their networks for the Year 2000; and Z.E.N.works 1.1, bundled with Check 2000, offers much needed assistance in efficiently assessing and repairing Year 2000-related desktop problems. This bundle gives companies the opportunity to continue managing network growth without disruption into the next century," said Lammers.
Finally, Vista has shown huge cost savings through Novell`s Corporate License Agreement (CLA). The CLA program offers cost-effective access to Novell products via site licensing and large discounts.
"Through this program, we can purchase licenses for all Novell network and applications products in volume at any time during the term of the contract. As part of the site licensing program, we may also purchase all Novell products on a per-workstation basis, enabling us greater flexibility," concluded Van Niekerk.
The CLA provides Vista with flexible purchasing and servicing options that reduce the costs of acquiring, maintaining and managing Novell software products across their institution. By making the CLA available through business experts Datacentrix, Novell ensures that Vista receives a high level of value added services in addition to receiving the benefits of volume discounts.
Share
Editorial contacts