Novell UK Ltd chose the Birmingham NEC Networks ’90 show this week as the stage for the official UK announcement of its first NetWare 386 Communications Services products, a set of modules running on the NetWare 386 operating system that offer a number of communications applications along with the usual file, print, store-and-forward messaging and database services. As detailed here last week (CI No 1,447), the first products include the NetWare 386 Services for SAA v1.0 communications software, designed to provide a gateway into IBM mainframe and mid-range applications; software products enabling MS-DOS, Windows 3.0 and Macintosh clients to access mainframe applications and wide area networks; and a Communications Services Manager that configures, monitors and manages the local area network from a central location. Both the 64 and 256 session configurations of the IBM Systems Application Architecture communications software are due to be available in the UK from September, with the other products following in November; similar communications software products for OS/2 and Unix clients are expected around the turn of the year. Pricing has not yet been finalised, but Novell UK managing director Tony Scrivens reckoned that the 64 session SAA communications server would come in at around UKP5,000 and the 256 session version at UKP13,000 – which suggests that Novell, like 3Com, is happy to follow the established tradition of simply substituting a pound sign for a dollar for its UK customers.
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