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Event
Summary
SALT LAKE CITY (BrainShare 2000), March 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Novell, Inc.
(Nasdaq: NOVL - news), a leading supplier of Net services software, announced
the public beta availability of wireless access to Novell GroupWise
via AT&T PocketNet service for business customers.
GroupWise,
Novell's premier knowledge platform and a key component in the new DENIM(SM)
Net Portal Services strategy, will now deliver a wide array of Net services
software, including messaging, calendaring and workflow, through AT&T
PocketNet service - giving GroupWise business customers easy access to
relevant information anytime and anywhere. GroupWise wireless access will
be demonstrated this week at Novell's BrainShare user conference. (Source:
Novell)
Market
Impact
AT&T
PocketNet announced support for Lotus Notes earlier this year at the Lotus
Notes Lotusphere conference in Orlando, Florida. Novell's GroupWise product
is the second collaborative messaging system that has teamed with AT&T
for the wireless PocketNet service. Lotus Notes currently has over 50,000,000
client seats, and Novell GroupWise has over 20,000,000 client seats, giving
AT&T PocketNet service a potential target market of 70,000,000 users.
We
expect AT&T to announce support for the Microsoft Exchange collaboration-messaging
server during Microsoft's annual TechEd conference this June in Orlando,
Florida. Microsoft Exchange has an existing client base of over 50,000,000
users, who could take advantage of wireless access via a Wireless Access
Phone (WAP), bringing AT&T's PocketNet service potential target market
to over 120,000,000 users.
Industry
analysts estimates of a user base of 600,000,000 wireless Internet users
by the end of 2003, is already an outdated figure, due to the explosion
in wireless access demand. We believe the wireless Internet/Messaging/Database
market will consist of 700,000,000 users prior to the end of 2003.
The
advent of wireless connectivity to collaborative messaging systems features
is key to the growth of the corporate market. As speeds and feeds have
become faster, domestic and international boundaries have slowly been
chipped away, making travel a necessity for almost today's entire workforce.
As users travel, they require access to updated data, in order to close
the deal, apply the latest software patch or pick up a much-needed contact
"on the fly". AT&T's PocketNet service, in conjunction with a collaborative
messaging system will provide users with exactly what they want, information
anytime, anywhere.
User
Recommendations
If
you are currently a user of either Novell GroupWise or Lotus Notes, AT&T's
PocketNet service will be a welcome addition to any roaming user. The
collaborative features contained within Novell GroupWise and other collaborative
messaging servers will allow access to not only e-mail and calendaring,
but also to shared folders and databases.
We
recommend a target test group to gauge the benefits of the wireless connectivity
service prior to any company wide roll out. While wireless has numerous
advantages, it is not inexpensive and not without limitations in terms
of speed, and ease of data visibility. Ensure via your pilot group that
a wireless venture is a benefit to your core business, and not just a
nice new 'toy' for your end users.