Novell`s eDirectory user base increases to nearly 139 million users

Novell has announced enhancements to Novell NDS eDirectory, including the addition of key platform support for Compaq and IBM operating systems to drive new value to customers worldwide. Novell has led the market for the last nine years with eDirectory, a foundation for businesses to build, secure, integrate and maintain highly customised eBusiness relationships with customers, partners and employees over the emerging unified global network - one Net.

With close to 139 million users, Novell eDirectory has 10 times more active users than any other directory in the market today. eDirectory has proven its leadership with tested reliability, scalability, security and standards compliance and Novell plans to extend these strengths to further its market position in the enterprise and service provider markets.

"Industry feedback validates our stability at the top of the market, but we think companies are only beginning to scratch the surface of what they can achieve with eDirectory," said Novell e-business solutions manager James Thomas. "We are starting to see large deployments by companies like CNN, Toyota and United States Navy that are turning to Novell to help manage the complex challenges of merging their disparate employee, customer and partner networks into a single Net. The addition of support for leading Compaq and IBM systems will only increase the attractiveness of eDirectory as an Internet infrastructure foundation."

As the only directory on the market that works across leading operating systems, eDirectory is emerging as an attractive development platform. To date Novell has more than 1 800 applications built on eDirectory, twice as many as any other directory vendor; these applications range from supply-chain management to personalisation to security.

Building on its commitment to ensure its leading portfolio of Net services software runs on all leading operating systems across all networks, Novell has made eDirectory 8.5 available for Compaq Tru64 UNIX and has announced plans to release a beta of eDirectory for IBM`s AIX operating system. By running across leading operating systems like AIX, which is available on the IBM eServer pSeries UNIX line, eDirectory allows customers to deploy cutting-edge eBusiness services while leveraging their current IT investment and lowering administration costs. With the addition of these operating systems, eDirectory remains the only directory service to run on Win2000/NT, NetWare, Solaris, Linux, Compaq Tru64 UNIX and AIX, providing the only tested solution for managing these disparate operating systems - present in most large organisations today - as a single network.

"Adding the resource and identity management capabilities of Novell`s eDirectory to IBM`s eServer pSeries servers gives customers in the enterprise, government and financial services markets an extremely reliable platform for the deployment of eBusiness services and applications," said Per Larsen, vice president IBM eServer. "The integration of Novell`s directory technology with one of the industry`s most deployed UNIX operating systems presents a substantial market opportunity for both IBM and Novell."