Novell has announced its largest European contract to date after signing an enterprise-wide agreement with British Telecommunications (BT) that establishes Novell as a strategic supplier of directory-enabled technology for BT worldwide.
The first phase of this multi-million dollar (US$) agreement will include upgrading BT`s network to the latest version of Novell`s NetWare 5.1 operating system and extending Novell`s industry-leading directory services, NDS eDirectory, across their enterprise. In a move to strengthen its partner strategy, BT has embraced Novell as an integral business partner to deploy and support directory-enabled services throughout the organisation.
Novell and BT have entered into a new licence agreement including provision for storage and print solutions and cross-platform directory integration services. As part of the agreement, all upgrades of Novell`s Net services software will be supplied and supported by dedicated Novell engineering staff. The global agreement also covers any partner company, in which BT has a 50 percent or greater stake.
Andy Roxburgh, Computer Asset Manager at BT commented, "We are delighted that Novell is embracing the integral partner strategy at BT. This is an innovative contract and clearly demonstrates Novell`s commitment to meet BT`s specific needs. The contract extends BT`s long term investment in directory-enabled technology and will allow us to improve efficiency and provide enhanced services to our customers on an enterprise-wide scale."
Ashok Patel, Strategy and Design Manager at BT said, "In an organisation as large as BT, it is essential that we have scalable systems managed from a single location across a variety of platforms. Further deployment of directory-enabled technology will allow us to improve service, reduce cost and reduce time to market through process automation. In addition, we hope to leverage the directory for revenue earning opportunities. We recognise Novell`s leadership in this area and are pleased to extend the use of their technology in this space."
Dr. Eric Schmidt, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer at Novell said, "This new licence agreement emphasises Novell`s lead in the Net services software market. The announcement is clear demonstration of Novell`s one Net approach that delivers highly scalable, cross-platform Net services that simplify and secure networks and accelerate the move to eSolutions. It will provide BT with a platform from which to build on further with Novell products in the near future."
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