Novell Integrates Asset Management With World's Largest Software Resellers

WALTHAM, Mass., Sept. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Novell (Nasdaq: NOVL) today announced the worldwide availability of a new compliance and asset tracking solution to help companies effectively manage their IT assets and control costs. Among other innovations, Novell(R) ZENworks(R) 7 Asset Management is the first resource management offering on the market to allow license tracking for software purchases from Software Spectrum, one of the world's largest software resellers. Certified by the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) for compliance accuracy, the new offering also includes significantly improved cross-platform inventory features, critical in today's diverse enterprise. As a result, organizations can automatically reconcile their installed software with actual license purchasing records, helping to ensure compliance and to avoid unnecessary software fees.

"With ZENworks Asset Management, we are able to significantly streamline the license tracking process and ensure greater accuracy by automating the process as much as possible," said Andrew Baxter, IT manager at Hudson- Highland Group. "We now can regularly check for any compliance-related issues through on-demand reports. Even more importantly, we know what software is being used and by whom. This information can help us save money when it comes to renegotiating our license fees."

For many organizations, much of the difficult and time-consuming inventory reconciliation work can be accomplished, or even avoided, by ensuring that purchase and license data are accurately entered from the beginning.

According to Patricia Adams, research director at Gartner, "Organizations are looking to streamline contract data entry processes and reduce the amount of manual entry involved and opportunity for errors. Having accurate, timely inventory and contract data ensures a high degree of confidence in the event of an audit or compliancy situation."

Novell offers the only asset management product to integrate directly with resellers at the point of transaction to help organizations meet their license management needs; and ZENworks 7 Asset Management is the only product to include connectors with the three largest software resellers -- Software Spectrum, SHI and Softchoice.

"A critical step in software asset management is establishing a direct relationship between what you buy and what you discover in your enterprise," said Erich Jacobs, senior vice president of emerging technologies for Software Spectrum. "Organizations now have the ability to import purchasing information from Software Spectrum directly into ZENworks 7 Asset Management to streamline the process and reduce errors, while giving customers the confidence that they can demonstrate compliance with their software license agreements."

ZENworks 7 Asset Management's improved cross-platform inventory features make it easy to manage software and track software licenses across numerous systems and platforms. New capabilities include the ability to automatically discover, identify and report hardware and software assets from Apple* Macintosh*, Linux* and other UNIX* desktops and servers.

In addition to technology enhancements, ZENworks 7 Asset Management has been reviewed and certified by the SIIA, meeting the association's standards for accuracy, reliability, completeness and ease of use for audit results. The SIIA Certified Audit Software Provider (CASP) certification gives ZENworks 7 Asset Management customers confidence that their audit results are accepted by major anti-piracy organizations, such as SIIA and the Business Software Alliance (BSA).

"Whether it is managing software licenses or determining how much a software package is truly used, accurate asset management continues to be problematic for many organizations," said David Litwack, Novell senior vice president and general manager, identity and resource management. "With the technology gained from Tally Systems, Novell now delivers the core asset management capabilities that our customers need. Today's announcement is an important step in delivering on our long-term vision for integrated, effective resource management." About Novell

Novell, Inc. 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 and ZENworks are registered trademarks; SUSE is a trademark of Novell, Inc. in the United States and other countries. *Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. Apple and Macintosh are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. Unix is a registered trademark of The Open Group. All other third-party trademarks are the property of their respective owners.