Novell and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Sign Major Technology Agreement

WALTHAM, Mass., May 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Novell, Inc. (Nasdaq: NOVL) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the nation's principal agency for protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services, have signed an agreement for unlimited use of Novell's market leading product portfolio. Novell is the only Linux* vendor with such an enterprise agreement with the Department, which also includes the National Institutes of Health (NIH). As part of an enterprise software initiative to promote aggregate buying and distribution in support of the President's Management Agenda, the agreement will help reduce costs and ease procurement for the Department of Health and Human Services and NIH.

Novell has created bundled product offerings that will significantly ease the licensing process, as well as provide HHS customers flexibility on both pricing and deployment. HHS users will have unlimited access, upgrade protection and technical support for Novell's leading products, including SUSE(TM) LINUX Enterprise Server, Novell(R) Open Enterprise Server, Novell Linux Desktop, patch management, and a range of identity-based services for management, integration and security.

"HHS and its customers can now leverage Novell's offerings to address tough IT challenges around infrastructure, security, and data integration at an attractive price point," said Alan Kraft, vice president for federal government solutions for Novell. "In addition, HHS customers gain freedom from day-to-day license tracking and an easier budgeting process, saving taxpayer money." About Novell

Novell, Inc. (Nasdaq: NOVL) is a leading provider of infrastructure software and services to over 50,000 customers in 43 countries. With more than 20 years of experience in data center, workgroup and desktop solutions, Novell's 6,000 employees, 5,000 partners and support centers around the world are meeting customer requirements for identity-driven computing and Linux solutions. By providing enterprise-class software and support for commercial and open source software, Novell delivers increased operating flexibility and choice at a lower total cost of ownership. More information about Novell can be found at http://www.novell.com.

NOTE: Novell is a registered trademark of Novell, Inc. in the United States and other countries. SUSE is a trademark of SUSE LINUX Products GmbH, a Novell business. *Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. All other third-party trademarks are the property of their respective owners.