Interop Ability News

REDMOND, Washington and WALTHAM, Massachusetts - November 19, 2008 - Marking the two-year anniversary of theiragreement to build a bridge between SUSE Linux Enterprise Server and Windows,Microsoft Corp. and Novell, Inc., today are celebrating strong customer demandfor their business model and strategy that provides interoperability andintellectual property (IP) peace of mind. The companies are announcing twosignificant milestones resulting from the Microsoft and Novell technicalcollaboration: the coming availability of an Advanced Management Pack for SUSELinux Enterprise for Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 and afree beta download of Novell's Moonlight rich media application. The companiesare also reinforcing the fact that Novell's new SUSE Linux Enterprise ServerSubscription with Expanded Support program will be supported throughMicrosoft's sale of certificates for Novell service.

 

"Customer interest and uptake has far exceeded ourexpectations," said Susan Heystee, general manager for global strategicalliances at Novell. "This continued momentum from our strategicrelationship with Microsoft is the catalyst driving the innovative solutionsand technologies our two companies are announcing today. We're seeingespecially strong demand in the datacenter, where a mixed-source environment isincreasingly the norm and where our delivery of true interoperability iscompelling."

In the second year of their business collaboration agreement,Microsoft and Novell have added more than 200 new joint customers, includingAlticor Inc., BP Oil International Ltd. and China Mobile Ltd., which arereceiving certificates from Microsoft for three-year priority supportsubscriptions for Novell's SUSE Linux Enterprise Server. When the five-yearagreement was signed in November 2006, Microsoft purchased certificates to sellto customers, which then redeemed those certificates with Novell for asubscription to SUSE Linux Enterprise. In the first two years of the agreement,Novell has invoiced more than 70 percent of the original certificate purchase.

 

"The interoperability and IP peace of mind that our agreementprovides is clearly resonating with customers," said Susan Hauser, generalmanager of strategic partnerships and licensing at Microsoft. "After twohighly successful years, we've demonstrated that our business model works, andwe will continue collaborating to provide innovative solutions for ourcustomers. And with our sale of certificates for Novell's new Expanded Supportprogram, even more customers, including those running Red Hat Enterprise Linux,will be able to access the benefits of our relationship with Novell."

 

As part of today's announcement, Microsoft and Novell are revealingthe details of two new offerings resulting from the joint technicalcollaboration. Novell is announcing the general availability release of itsAdvanced Management Pack for SUSE Linux Enterprise for Microsoft System CenterOperations Manager 2007 R2, available in the first half of 2009. A technicalpreview of the Advanced Management Pack was shown earlier this month at theTech*Ed EMEA IT Professionals 2008 conference in Barcelona, Spain.The timing of the Advanced Management Pack coincides with the release ofMicrosoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2, also slated for release inthe first half of 2009. Microsoft and Novell's collaborative work in systemsmanagement aims to ease customers' management of mixed IT environments.

 

The Advanced Management Pack for SUSE Linux Enterprise for MicrosoftSystem Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 extends the cross-platform Linuxmonitoring capability of Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 andenables the assessment and management of Windows- and Linux-based servers froma single, unified console, eliminating the costs and complexities of havingmultiple management consoles. It also reduces training costs and optimizesstaff resources, because individuals need to be trained on only one managementtool. In addition, one team can manage both Windows and Linux environments.

 

The other new initiative the companies are announcing is theupcoming beta availability of Moonlight, an open source implementation ofMicrosoft Silverlight that provides Linux-based users with the same rich,high-definition media capabilities currently available for the Windows andApple environments. Moonlight will be provided as an open source plug-in forthe Firefox Web browser.

 

In the two years since signing their original business and technicalcollaboration agreement, Novell and Microsoft have continued to makesignificant investments in their relationship. Novell's Expanded Supportprogram includes a three-year subscription to SUSE Linux Enterprise Server thatalso allows customers to transition to SUSE Linux Enterprise Server over atwo-year period while receiving technical support for their existing Linuxdeployments. Based on its strong relationship with Novell, which is built on acommitment to meeting customer demand, Microsoft is supporting the new programthrough the sale of certificates for Novell technical support. As a result,even more customers will be able to access the benefits of interoperability andIP peace of mind provided through the Microsoft and Novell relationship.

 

Reseller distributors for the two companies are quick to point outthe advantages of the Microsoft and Novell business model.

 

"The cooperation between Microsoft and Novell to deliverexpanded support for SUSE Linux Enterprise users is a breath of freshair," said Joe Szalkiewicz, western region vice president for The PinnacleGroup. "The ability to transition from other Linux deployments, includingRed Hat, while redeeming subscription certificates purchased from Microsoft forNovell's Expanded Support, is remarkable -- something you can't get anywhereelse. This is exactly what our customers have told us they are looking for tohelp make the transition from other forms of Linux to Novell SUSE LinuxEnterprise Server."

 

Independent Television PLC (ITV), a public service network ofBritish commercial television broadcasters, also was quick to express supportfor the new offering.

 

"At ITV we are increasingly standardizing on both MicrosoftWindows Server and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server as the key components of ourenterprise server strategy," said Nick Leake, director of operations andinfrastructure for ITV. "We did not want to get into a situation where wehad a huge variety of different Linux distributions installed as we wanted tominimize our Linux operational risks and costs by standardizing on just onewidely supported distribution. The Microsoft and Novell partnership agreementmeans we can now concentrate on Microsoft Windows Server and SUSE LinuxEnterprise Server across our enterprise and have greater assurance that theseplatforms will be optimized to interoperate with each other, particularly inrespect of virtualization. The additional intellectual property warrantiesprovided by the agreement are a bonus and contribute to the effectivepositioning of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server as an enterprise-class Linuxdistribution. The recent extension of the agreement shows this was not aone-off transaction but is part of a longer-term arrangement between bothMicrosoft and Novell. Long may it continue, as it is setting the new benchmarkin the technology industry that other suppliers must now work to meet."

 

More information about the Microsoft and Novell agreement can befound at http://www.moreinterop.com.

 

About Novell

Novell, Inc. (Nasdaq: NOVL - News) delivers the best engineered,most interoperable Linux platform and a portfolio of integrated IT managementsoftware that helps customers around the world reduce cost, complexity andrisk. With our infrastructure software and ecosystem of partnerships, Novellharmoniously integrates mixed IT environments, allowing people and technologyto work as one. For more information, visit http://www.novell.com.

 

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT - News) is the worldwideleader in software, services and solutions that help people and businessesrealize their full potential.

Novell and SUSE are registered trademarks of Novell Inc. in the U.S. and othercountries. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. The names ofactual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of theirrespective owners.