Microsoft and Novell Mark Two Years of Interoperability Progress
November 19 2008 - 12:01AM
PR Newswire (US)
Strong customer demand, technical collaboration and commercial
success affirms strategy and partner model. REDMOND, Wash. and
WALTHAM, Mass., Nov. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Marking the
two-year anniversary of their agreement to build a bridge between
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server and Windows, Microsoft Corp. and
Novell, Inc., today are celebrating strong customer demand for
their business model and strategy that provides interoperability
and intellectual property (IP) peace of mind. The companies are
announcing two significant milestones resulting from the Microsoft
and Novell technical collaboration: the coming availability of an
Advanced Management Pack for SUSE Linux Enterprise for Microsoft
System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 and a free beta download
of Novell's Moonlight rich media application. The companies are
also reinforcing the fact that Novell's new SUSE Linux Enterprise
Server Subscription with Expanded Support program will be supported
through Microsoft's sale of certificates for Novell service. (Logo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO) "Customer
interest and uptake has far exceeded our expectations," said Susan
Heystee, general manager for global strategic alliances at Novell.
"This continued momentum from our strategic relationship with
Microsoft is the catalyst driving the innovative solutions and
technologies our two companies are announcing today. We're seeing
especially strong demand in the datacenter, where a mixed-source
environment is increasingly the norm and where our delivery of true
interoperability is compelling." In the second year of their
business collaboration agreement, Microsoft and Novell have added
more than 200 new joint customers, including Alticor Inc., BP Oil
International Ltd. and China Mobile Ltd., which are receiving
certificates from Microsoft for three-year priority support
subscriptions for Novell's SUSE Linux Enterprise Server. When the
five-year agreement was signed in November 2006, Microsoft
purchased certificates to sell to customers, which then redeemed
those certificates with Novell for a subscription 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 agreement
provides is clearly resonating with customers," said Susan Hauser,
general manager of strategic partnerships and licensing at
Microsoft. "After two highly successful years, we've demonstrated
that our business model works, and we will continue collaborating
to provide innovative solutions for our customers. And with our
sale of certificates for Novell's new Expanded Support program,
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
revealing the details of two new offerings resulting from the joint
technical collaboration. Novell is announcing the general
availability release of its Advanced Management Pack for SUSE Linux
Enterprise for Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2,
available in the first half of 2009. A technical preview of the
Advanced Management Pack was shown earlier this month at the
Tech*Ed EMEA IT Professionals 2008 conference in Barcelona, Spain.
The timing of the Advanced Management Pack coincides with the
release of Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2, also
slated for release in the first half of 2009. Microsoft and
Novell's collaborative work in systems management aims to ease
customers' management of mixed IT environments. The Advanced
Management Pack for SUSE Linux Enterprise for Microsoft System
Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 extends the cross-platform Linux
monitoring capability of Microsoft System Center Operations Manager
2007 R2 and enables the assessment and management of Windows- and
Linux-based servers from a single, unified console, eliminating the
costs and complexities of having multiple management consoles. It
also reduces training costs and optimizes staff resources, because
individuals need to be trained on only one management tool. In
addition, one team can manage both Windows and Linux environments.
The other new initiative the companies are announcing is the
upcoming beta availability of Moonlight, an open source
implementation of Microsoft Silverlight that provides Linux-based
users with the same rich, high-definition media capabilities
currently available for the Windows and Apple environments.
Moonlight will be provided as an open source plug-in for the
Firefox Web browser. In the two years since signing their original
business and technical collaboration agreement, Novell and
Microsoft have continued to make significant investments in their
relationship. Novell's Expanded Support program includes a
three-year subscription to SUSE Linux Enterprise Server that also
allows customers to transition to SUSE Linux Enterprise Server over
a two-year period while receiving technical support for their
existing Linux deployments. Based on its strong relationship with
Novell, which is built on a commitment to meeting customer demand,
Microsoft is supporting the new program through the sale of
certificates for Novell technical support. As a result, even more
customers will be able to access the benefits of interoperability
and IP peace of mind provided through the Microsoft and Novell
relationship. Reseller distributors for the two companies are quick
to point out the advantages of the Microsoft and Novell business
model. "The cooperation between Microsoft and Novell to deliver
expanded support for SUSE Linux Enterprise users is a breath of
fresh air," said Joe Szalkiewicz, western region vice president for
The Pinnacle Group. "The ability to transition from other Linux
deployments, including Red Hat, while redeeming subscription
certificates purchased from Microsoft for Novell's Expanded
Support, is remarkable -- something you can't get anywhere else.
This is exactly what our customers have told us they are looking
for to help make the transition from other forms of Linux to Novell
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server." Independent Television PLC (ITV), a
public service network of British commercial television
broadcasters, also was quick to express support for the new
offering. "At ITV we are increasingly standardizing on both
Microsoft Windows Server and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server as the
key components of our enterprise server strategy," said Nick Leake,
director of operations and infrastructure for ITV. "We did not want
to get into a situation where we had a huge variety of different
Linux distributions installed as we wanted to minimize our Linux
operational risks and costs by standardizing on just one widely
supported distribution. The Microsoft and Novell partnership
agreement means we can now concentrate on Microsoft Windows Server
and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server across our enterprise and have
greater assurance that these platforms will be optimized to
interoperate with each other, particularly in respect of
virtualization. The additional intellectual property warranties
provided by the agreement are a bonus and contribute to the
effective positioning of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server as an
enterprise-class Linux distribution. The recent extension of the
agreement shows this was not a one-off transaction but is part of a
longer-term arrangement between both Microsoft and Novell. Long may
it continue, as it is setting the new benchmark in the technology
industry that other suppliers must now work to meet." More
information about the Microsoft and Novell agreement can be found
at http://www.moreinterop.com/. 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 http://www.novell.com/. About Microsoft Founded
in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is the worldwide leader in
software, services and solutions that help people and businesses
realize their full potential. Novell and SUSE are registered
trademarks of Novell Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. Linux is
a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. The names of actual
companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of
their respective owners.
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO
http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Microsoft Corp. CONTACT:
Rapid Response Team of Waggener Edstrom Worldwide, +1-503-443-7070,
, for Microsoft; or Ian Bruce of Novell, +1-781-464-8034, Web site:
http://www.microsoft.com/
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