Banyan Delivers LDAP Version 3.0 Support For StreetTalk.

WESTBORO, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 22, 1998--

Another Banyan Year 2000 Readiness Program Release Embraces New

Features of Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)

Banyan Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ:BNYN) today announced LDAP Version 3.0 support for StreetTalk(R), a Banyan "Year 2000 Ready" network service that provides access to Banyan's robust StreetTalk directory services from LDAP-enabled applications. Supporting the latest version of LDAP emphasizes Banyan's continued commitment to take a leading position in delivering open directory standards.

LDAP is a highly tested and proven directory access standard approved by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). It is both scalable and adaptable to today's diverse networking environments. LDAP is designed to give network managers, as well as users, a single technology for accessing directories. By writing to a directory that supports LDAP, developers need not worry about where resources or objects reside within the enterprise.

"By giving our worldwide customers the tools to leverage Banyan's superior directory technology, we can help them make the most of their intranets," said Bill Warner, senior vice president of product management and development for Banyan, "LDAP is an example of an Internet standard fixing an interoperability problem, allowing developers to easily write applications to one standard, unifying directories from multiple vendors," Warner concluded.

The State of Delaware maintains a 25,000 user VINES(R) and StreetTalk for Windows NT(R) networking environment with a variety of mail applications from Microsoft Outlook(R), Banyan BeyondMail(R), Netscape mail and POP mail clients. The goal of the State's networking infrastructure is three-fold: create an open, standards-based computing environment, standardize on one mailbox management system that expands communication abilities and have one centralized, all encompassing, directory service.

"StreetTalk, now with LDAP v3.0 support allows us to meet all our current networking goals while Banyan's new Intranet Messaging Suite product gives us mail client choices that we never had before," said Mike Stratton of the State of Delaware. "Standardizing on a robust directory service like StreetTalk allows for future initiatives like PC Telephony, Quality of Service, e-mail system interoperability, and a single information repository that contains all state resident information for easy retrieval."

With LDAP version 3.0 support, Banyan(R) brings to its StreetTalk directory service many new LDAP features, including full read and write capabilities. This is important for updating information that resides within a directory accessed by an LDAP-enabled application. Thanks to the new referral capability in the 3.0 product, StreetTalk can refer requests to other directories when the desired information does not exist in the StreetTalk directory itself, even if that other directory service is provided by another vendor. LDAP schema management - the ability to extend logical information placeholders - brings new power to developers, who can now write standards-based applications that create and manage new fields "on the fly," a capability long supported by Banyan's StreetTalk directory service technology. For example, an attribute called "maiden name" could be added to users, even if it had not been previously defined in the schema.

"Banyan's early endorsement of LDAP in 1997 was an important signal to the industry that the future of directories lies within open standards, rather than proprietary technology," said Larry Gauthier, senior analyst at The Burton Group. "By delivering on LDAP 3.0 Support for StreetTalk, Banyan has further confirmed its commitment. Banyan networks now have the best of both worlds - an industry leading directory service combined with accessibility from open, standards-based applications."

Leveraging the power of StreetTalk Directory Service

The expected rise in LDAP-enabled applications will provide StreetTalk directory users with a wide selection of business solutions, enabling them to run their operations more efficiently. Everything from collaboration and line-of-business applications to management utilities like corporate phone books can be written to LDAP. For example, using the Find People selection of the Windows '95 Start button menu lets you easily find information on a person which is located in an LDAP-enabled directory. Another good example of the growth of LDAP support in applications is the LDAP-based address book searches now supported in most e-mail clients such as Outlook 98(R), Netscape Mail(R), and Eudora(R).

These new applications will not only be able to reference industrial strength corporate directories such as StreetTalk, but can also access information in LDAP-enabled Internet directories like Banyan's Switchboard(tm), the Internet's #1 directory service and one of the top ranked Web sites in the world.

With LDAP support for StreetTalk directory services, customers can leverage Banyan's proven StreetTalk directory services to better manage their enterprise network. Administrators and end users will continue to benefit from the powerful features of the StreetTalk directory, including scalability, lower cost and ease of administration, security and the unique StreetTalk Directory Assistance (STDA) search capability.

Banyan Year 2000 Readiness Program

The LDAP version 3.0 support for StreetTalk product is a Banyan Year 2000 Readiness Program release. Through that program, Banyan has already released "Year 2000 Ready" versions of its current messaging server, networking, and directory products. "Year 2000 Ready" for Banyan means that Banyan-developed products will be able to correctly generate, process and/or receive data for dates through the year 2000 and beyond.

Requirements, Pricing and Availability

LDAP for StreetTalk version 3.0 runs on a StreetTalk for Windows NT 8.5 server. This product is designed to provide the ability to access directory-based information on VINES(R) and StreetTalk(R) for Windows NT(R) servers. It will be available at no additional charge to current Value Investment Protection Plan (V.I.P. Plan(R)) holders. For more information, visit Banyan's Web site at www.banyan.com or call 1-800-2-BANYAN.

About Banyan Systems Incorporated:

Over eight million business users, including half the Fortune 1000, depend on Banyan technology and solutions. Banyan Systems (Nasdaq:BNYN) is a pioneer and leader in providing proven, standards-based directory and messaging products for enterprise networks. Coupled with professional and support services, these unique offerings help people communicate simply and easily across enterprise networks, intranets and the Internet. Founded in 1983 and headquartered in Westboro, Massachusetts, USA, the Company markets products worldwide through authorized network integrators, resellers and international distributors. Banyan can be reached on the World Wide Web at http://www.banyan.com. Banyan, VINES and StreetTalk are registered trademarks and Intelligent Messaging and Switchboard are trademarks of Banyan Systems Incorporated. Other brands and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

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