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Novell, Partners Establish Network To Promote Linux Adoption

Novell announced the establishment of its Porting and Migration Network, an initiative designed to help customers and software and hardware partners make the move to SUSE LINUX Enterprise Server quickly and cost effectively. Leading software and hardware vendors, including HP, IBM, Intel, Oracle and Scali, will join with Novell to help their software partners deploy their platforms and solutions on SUSE LINUX. As part of the initiative, and underpinning its commitment to providing world-class development, support and consulting services to partners, Novell is establishing in Germany its first Porting and Migration Center, a dedicated lab facility to help developers and software partners make the move to Linux.

Currently, Novell offers comprehensive services to software and technology partners through its Developer Services and PartnerNet programs. The Novell Porting and Migration Network is an additional offering designed to simplify the migration of software products to Linux. Novell has formed an EMEA-wide alliance with a number of its top-tier partners to help their developer and software partners port their products to SUSE LINUX. Under this extensive joint effort, these Novell partners will offer their partners comprehensive services and resources to plan and execute porting projects, resolve issues, and certify their solutions with the Novell YES CERTIFIED compatibility program.

"On the face of it, a wholesale migration to Linux is a large and complex task. However, the benefits that Linux offers to customers make it a critical offering for all vendors' mid- and long-term growth strategies. The establishment of the Porting and Migration Network is a vital initiative in making sure that our partners' and their customers' migration to Linux is rapid, robust and simple," said Johan Rosius, vice president of alliances for Novell EMEA. "Already, many of our partners have signed up to be part of the Porting and Migration Network, which is clear validation that it delivers an additional layer of value to both Novell's partners and our customers, helping accelerate their move to the Linux platform."

"Intel has extensive experience in collaborating with many ISVs to port their applications to new platforms, such as INTEL Itanium," said Tom Garrison, director of Enterprise Marketing EMEA for Intel. "We very much appreciate the opportunity to contribute Intel's deep experience to Novell's Porting and Migration Network, in order to jointly increase the number of certified applications on the de-facto industry standard -- Linux on INTEL. By our combining resources and skills in a network, ISVs will receive the best available industry support."

"The fact that the Porting and Migration Network makes migration to Linux easy for our customers is a very exciting development," said Stein Surlien, vice president of alliances and channels for Oracle Europe, Middle East and Africa. "It brings together the combined expertise of Novell and Oracle to deliver a powerful and compelling proposition for clients and ISV partners, and ensures that all problems are identified and fully resolved before their real-world implementation."

Novell's Porting and Migration Centers, combined with Novell partners' facilities, offer highly skilled staff, a productive work environment, dedicated hardware to run demanding test scenarios, and a complete set of software tools to build and analyze complex software stacks. The centers are staffed by experienced consultants and developers who have extensive experience in Linux development and porting projects. Additionally, experts for specific areas or products can be added to the project. Novell's Porting and Migration Centers provide a lab environment where partners' and customers' systems and networks can be configured to their individual specifications. Complex integration environments, including firewalls or clusters, can be set up to test products against real-world scenarios.