Microsoft and Novell Extend Reach of Interoperability Collaboration to China

Efforts will focus on converting unsupported Linux users to SUSE Linux
Enterprise and meeting growing customer demand in China.

BEIJING, April 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Microsoft Corp. and Novell
Inc. are announcing an incremental investment in their relationship focused on
converting unsupported Linux* users to supported SUSE(R) Linux Enterprise,
with a particular emphasis on the Chinese market. This is a result of
increasing customer demand in the region for their business model solution,
which builds a bridge between open source and proprietary software and
provides interoperability and intellectual property (IP) peace of mind for
organizations operating mixed-source IT environments.
(Logo: here)
This increased demand is exemplified by the People's Insurance Company of
China Group (PICC), The Dairy Farm Company Ltd. (Dairy Farm) and Dawning
Information Industry Co. Ltd. (Dawning), which have agreed to receive
Microsoft certificates for three-year support subscriptions for SUSE Linux
Enterprise Server from Novell(R).
"It's very encouraging to see that our business and technical
collaboration continues to resonate with customers around the globe," said Ron
Hovsepian, president and CEO of Novell. "Both Novell and Microsoft are
committed to furthering this alliance, and we couldn't be happier with the
results to date. PICC, Dairy Farm and Dawning exemplify the benefits our
strengthened alliance provides for the international IT community."
"We recognize that our customers want to use Microsoft products in
heterogeneous environments, and therefore we are pleased to offer this option
to meet customer needs in one of the leading global markets," said Ya-Qin
Zang, Microsoft corporate vice president and chairman of Microsoft China. "We
are very pleased with the initial response in the Chinese market to our joint
offerings for IP peace of mind and technology interoperability in such areas
as virtualization and high-performance computing."
Expanded Investment
Microsoft and Novell's collaboration in China will focus on joint
marketing and training efforts that tap into two emerging areas of
interoperability demand: high-performance computing (SUSE Linux Enterprise
Server and Microsoft Windows Compute Cluster Server running in a dual-boot
configuration) and virtualization (cross-platform virtualization solutions
featuring Microsoft Windows Server 2008 with Hyper-V and SUSE Linux Enterprise
Server 10 with Xen technology). This will include hosting round-table
discussions with local chief information officers in Shenzhen, Guangzhou,
Shanghai and Beijing, running a virtualization customer pilot, and conducting
technology workshops to assist the conversion from unsupported Linux to SUSE
Linux Enterprise Server.
In addition, Novell and Microsoft's collaboration will focus on efforts to
convert unsupported Linux users to SUSE Linux Enterprise support, in China and
elsewhere, which builds upon a growing global trend of large, multinational
companies increasing their demand for subscribed and supported Linux. This is
due at least partly to the growing recognition among customers of the true
costs and risk associated with running an unsupported IT environment,
including the need for patches and bug fixes, supporting forked code, and
retaining IT staff.
Demand in China
Companies in China are recognizing the challenges of deploying and
managing heterogeneous IT environments and the opportunities to simplify with
solutions such as the dual-boot operating system configuration from Microsoft
and Novell.
"We are very pleased with the original approach by Microsoft and Novell to
address our concerns about deploying and managing a complex high-performance
computing infrastructure across two platforms. It is essential for our future
competitiveness and success that we can simplify with such solutions and look
forward to further utilizing the standards-based systems management
technologies being developed by both companies," said Nie Hua, vice president
of Dawning. "We fully understand the concerns surrounding intellectual
property rights and feel reassured that these issues have been addressed by
our vendors."
"The Microsoft-Novell collaboration helps to solve interoperability
problems and creates a more harmonious IT ecosystem. We are confident that
Microsoft and Novell would be able to provide the right level of support when
we go ahead," said Colin Rice, IT director of the Dairy Farm. Dairy Farm is a
leading pan-Asian retailer, including 7-Eleven in Hong Kong, Macau, Southern
China and Singapore, and other well-known local brands.
The Microsoft-Novell Agreement
As part of the five-year Microsoft-Novell agreement, announced Nov. 2,
2006, Microsoft can make subscription certificates available for customers to
redeem SUSE Linux Enterprise Server support services directly from Novell.
Since the announcement, Novell has invoiced more than $141 million in SUSE
Linux Enterprise Server subscriptions from the Microsoft and Novell
collaboration agreement.
A recently released study by IDC, "Worldwide Linux Operating Environments
2008-2012 Forecast: Taking Linux to the Next Level,"(1) reported that SUSE
Linux Enterprise-paid server operating environment (SOE) subscriptions
increased by 38.6 percent from 2006 to 2007 and that Novell's share of the
paid SOE market increased from 26.1 percent in 2006 to 29 percent in 2007. IDC
stated in the report, "That surge, thanks to the company's alliance and
interoperability efforts with Microsoft, led to a highly successful year for
Novell in 2007." Novell's 2006-2007 growth was the highest of any paid or
unpaid SOE distribution tracked by this study.
More information about the Microsoft and Novell agreement, including other
customer announcements, can be found at 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 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.
(1) IDC, "Worldwide Linux Operating Environments 2008-2012 Forecast:
Taking Linux to the Next Level," Doc # 211562, April 2008

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.

SOURCE Microsoft Corp.

pr.mspx./ /CONTACT: Kevan Barney of Novell, Inc., +1-801-861-2931,
kbarney@novell.com; or Rapid Response Team of Waggener Edstrom Worldwide,
+1-503-443-7070, rrt@waggeneredstrom.com, for Microsoft Corp.