Quote Sheet: Customers Laud Microsoft and Novell Agreement

November 2007

On Nov. 8, 2007, Novell Inc. and Microsoft Corp. announced that 30 new customers — including Costco Wholesale Corp., Southwest Airlines Co. and the City of Los Angeles — will receive from Microsoft certificates for three-year priority support subscriptions for SUSE® Linux Enterprise Server from Novell®. These organizations join the ranks of all other Microsoft and Novell customers currently benefiting from the collaboration between the two companies to enable IT interoperability and intellectual property (IP) peace of mind in mixed-source environments.

The new customers announced today range from global to local and from private to public; they represent a wide range of geographies and industries, including the financial, healthcare, retail and technology sectors. Examples include Zabka Polska SA, one of the largest retail chains in Poland, marking the first agreement in that country, and CHRISTUS Health, a large U.S.-based healthcare provider.

The full list is as follows: Abraxas Informatik AG; ADIF; AFG IT Consulting; Arsys Internet SL; Baker Hughes; BATS Trading Inc.; State of California Department of Technology Services; Cash Converters International Ltd.; CHRISTUS Health; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; City of Los Angeles; CompuCom Systems Inc.; Conductor Tecnologia SA; Costco Wholesale Corp.; Flagstar Bank; iLoop Mobile Inc.; Leicester City Council; Kent County, Mich.; Mercury Insurance; Pioneer Corp.; Riverside County, Calif.; South Carolina Department of Probation, Pardon and Parole Services; Southwest Airlines Co.; Swiss Post; Synovus Financial Corp.; TDC Hosting; T-Systems Enterprise Services GmbH; Washington Department of Information Services; Westmont College; and Zabka Polska SA.

Customer Quotes

“The Novell and Microsoft agreement provides Zabka Polska with an interoperability solution incorporating the essential element of intellectual property assurances. We plan to deploy this solution across the infrastructure supporting various elements of retail supply chain management infrastructure. This will clearly help Zabka focus on our core business of being the most modern and customer-oriented network of retail stores throughout Poland. The Novell and Microsoft agreement is a terrific step for us in driving greater innovation across our organization.”

  • Maciej Klaskala, Chief Information Officer
    Zabka Polska

“As one of the top 10 Catholic healthcare systems in the U.S., with over 40 hospitals in our network, we cannot afford downtime. We looked to SUSE Linux Enterprise Server as a key component to our information systems strategy to improve overall availability for key infrastructure and mission-critical applications, as well as to reduce overall TCO. The agreement between Novell and Microsoft makes this an even more appealing decision. By taking advantage of the interoperability between our Windows and Linux environments, we’re able to significantly streamline the management of our infrastructure.”

  • George Conklin, CIO
    CHRISTUS Health

“Our customers increasingly operate in mixed-source environments, so it is important that we are able to manage Linux and Windows platforms with the same tools. The agreement between Novell and Microsoft has enabled us to deliver services that are more cost-effective and better-suited to our customers’ needs. As a result, we have also experienced increased interest in our services from customers with predominately Linux environments.”

Fujitsu Services Oy — an existing customer — is a leading IT services company that designs, builds and operates IT systems and services for large-scale clients in both the public and private sectors.

  • Tuomas Levoniemi, Development Mana
    Fujitsu Services (Finland)

“Here at Conductor we have a mixed environment, so we believe that the interoperability provided by the Microsoft and Novell agreement will save us time and reduce our support costs.”

  • Jose Ricardo Ribeiro, Director de Infra-Estrutura
    Conductor Tecnologia (Brazil)


“The Novell and Microsoft agreement is a real first step forward in the concept of interoperable standards-based computing from our perspective. We expect that the cooperation between these two companies will initially enhance our ability to serve the citizens of South Carolina by certifying the heterogeneous technology stance we have adhered to for over a decade. Beyond that, we expect to eventually see this relationship evolve into a framework for open information sharing that will provide avenues for organizations to explore without fear of repercussions based on nontraditional technology choices. Going forward, the vetting of our technology posture and the fruits of this new relationship between two longtime business partners of our organization will serve to enhance the ability of the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services to continue to focus on driving even greater innovation across our enterprise.”

  • David O’Berry, Director, Information Technology Systems and Services
    South Carolina Department of Probation, Pardon and Parole Services

“Implementing the joint offering of Novell and Microsoft will help us manage our heterogeneous IT facilities in an efficient and sound manner. As a result, we now have more flexibility and control over our distributed datacenters and services. Standardizing on these platforms is helping us streamline our overall infrastructure and reduce costs.”

  • Ian Abell, Head of Technology Services
    Leicester City Council

“Interoperability is a critical factor with our multivendor IT environment. The Novell and Microsoft agreement addresses important issues and helps Synovus provide our team members with the resources they need to excel at serving our customers.”

  • Kevin Gowen, Director, Channel Technology
    Synovus

“We’re relying on the strengths of both Windows Server and SUSE Linux Enterprise to create an efficient and cost-effective mixed-source environment. The interoperability between SUSE Linux Enterprise Server and Windows Server has enabled us to extend our heterogeneous environment with confidence. And with the support and technical services we receive, operating in a truly interoperable environment has never been easier.”

  • Yoichi Tanaka, General Manager, Information Strategy Group, Corporate Planning Division
    Pioneer

“Abraxas Informatik highly appreciates the interoperability initiative between Microsoft and Novell. Heterogeneous information and communication environments are a day-to-day realty for us and our customers. This interoperability initiative will drive down complexity and cost in mixed environments, becoming a benefit for all sides.”

  • Frédéric Bösch, Chief Technology Architect
    Abraxas Informatik (Switzerland)

“At TDC Hosting, our objective is to deliver a world-class service to our customers. We believe that the Microsoft and Novell collaboration will provide advanced virtualization and systems management technologies that will improve our hosting capacity, while being delivered within our existing server strategy and staff skill sets.”

  • Claus Bo Nielsen, Sales Director
    TDC Hosting

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