Novell has announced that it has finalised the previously announced $50 million investment in Novell by IBM which was publicised in conjunction with Novell`s offer to acquire SuSE Linux in November 2003. Subsequent to the finalisation of the investment, Novell and IBM have entered into an expanded agreement, enabling IBM to ship SuSE Linux Enterprise Server, which customers license from Novell, with IBM`s servers. This agreement will provide Novell an exciting new channel to supply SuSE Linux to businesses around the world.
As part of the agreement, IBM can ship, or preload, SuSE Linux Enterprise Server across its entire server line, including IBM eServer iSeries, pSeries, xSeries and zSeries, as well as IBM`s eServer BladeCenter systems. The parties have extended IBM`s existing agreement with SuSE Linux, and Novell will continue to develop and support SuSE Linux on all IBM server platforms.
"The momentum behind Linux in the marketplace continues to grow," says Stafford Masie, managing director of Novell SA. "Novell is working with companies like IBM to deliver the powerful, fully supported SuSE Linux platform on leading enterprise servers. Customers know that they`re getting top-quality performance backed by the global technical support and services they need from Novell. This marks a critical step in making Linux mainstream in the corporate data centre."
The agreement is expected to increase choices for customers deploying Linux. By enabling IBM to ship SuSE Linux Enterprise Server on its servers, it can help make buying, deploying and managing Linux easier and more cost-effective for customers. With the power of SuSE Linux`s configuration and installation management tools, customers can deploy SuSE Linux on IBM into mixed networking environments more easily, gaining the cost and flexibility benefits of Linux without sacrificing the enterprise strength capabilities they need.
"This is an important milestone and we are extremely pleased with our growing business relationship with Novell, one of the premier providers of Linux in the world," said Jim Stallings, general manager of corporate Linux for IBM. "Offering customers more choice is important. Linux delivers a compelling value proposition that enables many businesses worldwide to deploy large-scale engagements that benefit from the advantages of Linux, including lower costs, greater stability and increased security."
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Novell, Inc (Nasdaq: NOVL) is a leading provider of information solutions that deliver secure identity management (Novell Nsure), Web application development (Novell exteNd) and cross-platform networking services (Novell Nterprise), all supported by strategic consulting and professional services (Novell Ngage). Active in the open source community with its Ximian and SUSE Linux brands, Novell provides a full range of Linux products and services for the enterprise, from the desktop to the server. Novell`s vision of one Net - a world without information boundaries - helps customers realise the value of their information securely and economically. For more information, call Novell`s Customer Response Centre at (888) 321 4CRC (4272) or visit http://www.novell.com. Press should visit http://www.novell.com/pressroom.
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