Novell to Expand Linux Management Solutions

    LAS VEGAS, April 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Microsoft Management
 Summit 2008 -- Novell today announced it is working with Microsoft Corp. to
 develop advanced Linux* management solutions that will allow customers to
 simplify the management of mixed IT environments. Building on their
 existing technical collaboration agreement, Microsoft and Novell will work
 with industry standards and open source components to standardize
 management capabilities. The joint effort, which leverages Novell's
 market-leading expertise in open source Linux management, is designed to
 maximize the value of a customer's IT infrastructure investment.
 
     "Customers today are looking for solutions that enable them to manage
 heterogeneous IT environments, and Microsoft is pleased to extend our
 System Center suite to offer management for Linux distributions, like SUSE
 Linux Enterprise," said Brad Anderson, general manager of the Management
 and Services Division at Microsoft. "Microsoft is both using and intending
 to contribute enhancements to the OpenPegasus Project's Common Information
 Model Object Manager (CIMOM) and delivering to the open source community
 interoperable providers, which collect management data and make it
 accessible to management services."
 
     As part of the collaboration, Novell, with its expertise in Linux
 system management, will work with Microsoft to enhance the System Center
 Operations Manager 2007 Cross Platform Extensions, which Microsoft
 announced today at the Microsoft Management Summit 2008. This extension of
 Microsoft System Center Operations Manager utilizes industry standards such
 as WS-Management and open source software to deliver Linux and UNIX*
 management. Leveraging its collaboration with Microsoft, industry standards
 and open source software, Novell intends to develop an advanced Linux
 management pack for System Center Operations Manager 2007. In addition,
 Novell plans to utilize the open source interoperable providers to extend
 the Linux management capabilities of its Novell(R) ZENworks(R) systems
 management products. These management solutions will allow SUSE(R) Linux
 Enterprise Server to be the best-managed Linux distribution.
 
     "Novell has previously outlined in its Systems and Resource Management
 blueprint that it intends to support in its ZENworks solutions the use of
 open source and open standards to simplify and standardize systems
 management." said Joe Wagner, senior vice president and general manager for
 Novell Systems and Resource Management. "By working together to extend
 Linux management for System Center Operations Manager, Microsoft and Novell
 are building on this standards-based, open source foundation to provide
 superior management for mixed IT environments. The collaboration will give
 customers flexibility with a unique combination of heterogeneous IT
 management software."
 
     More information about the Microsoft and Novell collaboration can be
 found at http://www.moreinterop.com. For more information on systems and
 resource management from Novell, visit http://www.novell.com/zenworks.
 
     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.
 
     Novell, SUSE and ZENworks are registered trademarks of Novell, Inc. in
 the United States and other countries. *Linux is a registered trademark of
 Linus Torvalds. All other third-party trademarks are the property of their
 respective owners.
 
 
 

SOURCE Novell, Inc.