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1.800.529.3400 local numbers "Novell GroupWise and the Novell file servers are Request Call fantastically reliable and available, so Almabani can always work to its full potential, delivering successful projects on time and to budget."

John Lincoln IT Manager Almabani General Contractors

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Almabani

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Based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, eDirectory 8.5 Nterprise Almabani General Contractors is one of BorderManager > Success Story the region?s leading construction firms. NetWare 6.5 The company is currently executing GroupWise 6.5 Industry: contracts with a combined value in excess of $230 million. Construction

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Almabani General Contractors

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SUCCESS STORY

Almabani supports its mobile workforce with Novell® technologies.

OVERVIEW capabilities and enable project managers

Based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Almabani General anywhere in the region to exchange information

Contractors is one of the region’s leading easily and reliably. “Novell GroupWise and construction firms. Over its 30-year history, SOLUTION the Novell file servers are Almabani has successfully managed a broad range Using Novell technology, Almabani has transformed fantastically reliable and of construction projects, from high-rise buildings, its infrastructure, creating a secure, flexible available, so Almabani hospitals and bridges to road networks and airports. working environment for hundreds of office-based can always work to its The company is currently executing contracts with and mobile users. The company’s Jeddah head full potential, delivering a combined value in excess of $230 million. office is the heart of the solution, running core successful projects on time

in-house business systems under NetWare®, with CHALLENGE and to budget.” ™ Novell BorderManager® and Novell eDirectory —John Lincoln, With hundreds of unconnected PCs in different IT Manager, for user identification and management. Almabani General locations, it was difficult for Almabani to integrate The Novell technologies support a wide area Contractors business planning processes with accounting and network that covers branch offices in Riyadh payroll processes, causing delays in management and Al Khobar, and connects several temporary reporting. The challenge for Almabani was to construction sites via PtoP Satellite and PtoP WiFi. create a single, integrated environment for core The network also covers Almabani’s operations in business systems and internal communication, Lebanon, enabling employees to check e-mail, capable of supporting multiple users securely use internal applications and share information and at low cost. easily, regardless of their location.

Almabani has a large mobile workforce “NetWare quickly gave us a robust, easy-to- based at temporary construction sites rather manage network on which we have built our than in its permanent office locations. The new collaborative capabilities,” said John Lincoln, solution therefore needed to offer remote working IT Manager at Almabani. “All user management Almabani General Contractors

is handled here in Jeddah, and we have only one reliable and available, so Almabani can always © 2005 Novell, Inc. All rights reserved. Novell, the Novell logo, the N logo, NetWare, BorderManager and network engineer at each site, primarily assisting work to its full potential, delivering successful GroupWise are registered trademarks, and eDirectory and exteNd are users with their Microsoft* applications. This makes projects on time and to budget.” trademarks of Novell, Inc. in the United States and other countries. the Novell solution very cost-effective, and we *Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. All other third- RESULTS party trademarks are the property of also have no problems with viruses, unauthorized their respective owners. access or unscheduled downtime.” Before the deployment of the Novell network and Novell Product Training collaboration technologies, financial reporting and Support Services Almabani uses Novell GroupWise® for For more information about at Almabani lagged around four months behind e-mail, shared calendaring, task lists, document Novell worldwide product the business. Today, the accounting system is training, certification programs, management and instant messaging. In addition consulting and technical support to providing secure and reliable communication, just 24 hours behind the business at any time, services, please visit: www.novell.com/services GroupWise simplifies the task of managing the representing a dramatic improvement in the For More Information company’s 5,000-strong workforce. transparency of management information. Contact your local “The shared folders functionality of GroupWise Almabani has achieved similar benefits in human Novell Solutions Provider, or visit the Novell Web site at: helps our finance department manage human resources, where payroll is now completed on www.novell.com the first day of each month, having previously resources processes, reducing the administrative You may also call Novell at: burden and accelerating financial reporting,” lagged six weeks behind. 1 888 321 4272 U.S./Canada said Lincoln. “It also allows our AutoCAD users “When we introduced Novell technologies, 1 801 861 4272 Worldwide 1 801 861 8473 Facsimile to share plans and designs easily with on-site we also updated our core English/Arabic DOS- Novell, Inc. project managers anywhere in the country.” based COBOL to a true GUI-based COBOL system, 404 Wyman Street Waltham, MA 02451 USA Using GroupWise WebAccess, Almabani’s mobile using ACUCOBOL from Acucorp,” said Lincoln. employees can access the data they need from “The combined result was a significant increase www.novell.com any location. Many have no fixed workstation, in internal efficiency and speed. We now have a so they rely on PDAs and mobile phones to check clearer view of the business, our administrative and send e-mail, make calendar entries and share processes are easier to manage, and our systems documents. GroupWise WebAccess provides a highly are more reliable than before.” functional and secure interface to the GroupWise Almabani now plans to deploy Novell exteNd™ servers, allowing the Almabani workforce to be to enable subcontractors to enter invoices truly mobile. directly into its COBOL-based accounting system,

“Novell helps us meet the significant challenge for improved supplier relations and reduced of running a business that is spread out over a wide administrative costs. geographic area,” said Lincoln. “Construction “For Almabani, Novell is a true one-stop-shop,” projects are complex, costly and time-sensitive, said Lincoln. “The local support and training are so it’s crucial that our employees are able to excellent, and Novell provides everything we collaborate effectively and reliably. GroupWise need—from identity management to collaboration and the Novell file servers are fantastically tools—reliably and cost-effectively.”

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