National Vision Chooses SUSE Linux Enterprise From Novell to Ensure Business Growth...

National Vision Chooses SUSE Linux Enterprise From Novell to Ensure Business
Growth and Meet Customer Needs
Nation's fourth-largest optical retailer standardizes retail locations on SUSE
Linux Enterprise Point of Service to centrally manage 5,000 devices spread
across its stores

WALTHAM, Mass., Aug. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Novell today announced that
National Vision Inc., one of the largest optical retailers in the United
States, plans to use SUSE(R) Linux Enterprise Point of Service to improve the
performance, stability and uptime of the network of 5,000 point-of-sale
devices within its stores. With more than 500 retail locations in 44 states,
including America's Best Contacts & Eyeglasses and Vision Centers at select
Wal-Mart stores, SUSE Linux Enterprise Point of Service will provide National
Vision with an agile, reliable and cost-effective operating system.

With plans to continue to add at least 40 new stores per year through the
current down economy, National Vision's biggest IT challenge is keeping
in-store systems updated and running seamlessly in order to meet and exceed
the needs of its business. After experiencing performance issues with its
existing UNIX-based point of service (POS) operating system, the national
optical retailer opted to switch to SUSE Linux Enterprise for its
mission-critical computing. With a more flexible and reliable Linux-based
platform, National Vision can better serve the changing needs of its business
while providing customers with faster and better service.

SUSE Linux Enterprise Point of Service is an open and flexible POS solution
that enables retailers to slash costs while enhancing customer relationships
and increasing system reliability. National Vision plans to add dozens of
stores each year, and SUSE Linux Enterprise Point of Service will help the
company keep pace with business growth, without requiring additional IT
headcount. Novell's Linux-based retail solution also reduces both the time and
complexity of opening a new store, which in turn will further reduce National
Vision's costs.

"By moving from UNIX to Linux, we anticipate a huge increase in system
performance, stability and uptime - all of which are critical to any retail
organization," said John Vaught, Chief Information Officer, National Vision.
"We considered other POS options, but selected SUSE Linux Enterprise Point of
Service because it has all the components to manage our servers and clients at
both our central location and at each of our retail locations across the
country. We also felt that Novell understood the retail market and our
business. They provided a terrific engineering and support team, and put us in
touch with several other retail companies that are running their businesses on
SUSE Linux Enterprise."

"The effective use of IT solutions can mean the difference between 'sink or
swim' for retailers, especially during challenging economic times," said
Justin Steinman, Vice President of Solution and Product Marketing at Novell.
"SUSE Linux Enterprise Point of Service helps retailers respond quickly to
changing market conditions, improve customer service and achieve an efficient
and reliable infrastructure. Moving to Linux will enable National Vision to
keep their costs low so they can pass those savings on to their customers."

About SUSE Linux Enterprise
The next-generation platform for the open enterprise, SUSE Linux Enterprise is
the best-engineered and most interoperable platform for mission-critical
computing, from the desktop to the data center. For more information on SUSE
Linux Enterprise offerings from Novell, visit www.novell.com/linux. For more
on how customers around the globe are leveraging Novell solutions, visit
www.novell.com/success.

About Novell
Novell, Inc. (Nasdaq: NOVL) delivers the best engineered, most interoperable
Linux platform and a portfolio of integrated IT management software that helps
customers around the world reduce cost, complexity and risk. With our
infrastructure software and ecosystem of partnerships, Novell harmoniously
integrates mixed IT environments, allowing people and technology to work as
one. For more information, visit www.novell.com.

Novell and SUSE are registered trademarks of Novell Inc. in the U.S. and other
countries. *All third-party trademarks are the property of their respective
owners.

SOURCE Novell, Inc.

Charlotte Betterley of Novell, +1-781-464-8253, cbetterley@novell.com, or
Kimberly Baker of PAN Communications, +1-978-474-1900, novell@pancomm.com, for
Novell, Inc.