Novell's Linux Support Continues to Lead the Industry

Novell, the leader in intelligent workload management, today announced it continues to gain recognition for superior customer support. Independent firm Lighthouse Research & Development recently compared Linux technical support providers and found enterprises using Novell's Linux support continue to report higher levels of satisfaction than customers using Linux support from Red Hat and Oracle. These results are consistent with a similar study conducted by Lighthouse Research in 2007. In addition, for the fourth year in a row, the Association of Support Professionals has named Novell a "Best Web Support" winner. Whether they receive their support in the field, by phone or over the web, customers using SUSE Linux Enterprise benefit from the best-supported enterprise Linux platform in the market, which enables them to drive growth and ensure business continuity.

The study by Lighthouse R&D published in 2010 gathered the opinions of technical personnel at companies who have used Linux support services provided by Novell, Oracle or Red Hat within the past 12 months. Lighthouse reported that the percentage of users rating Novell's Linux support a seven or higher (on a 10-point scale) was 71 percent, compared to 65 percent for Oracle users and 61 percent for Red Hat users. For mixed-platform environments, the differences were even more pronounced, with Novell being rated seven or higher by 70 percent of respondents, compared to a mere 44 percent for Oracle and 59 percent for Red Hat. Interviewees noted that Novell technical support personnel are highly knowledgeable and experienced and Novell stands out among vendors in the area of interoperability and mixed-platform support. They expressed satisfaction with the way Novell acknowledges and helps to fix integration problems.

"There are going to be obstacles with any large-scale implementation," said Paul Lewin, chief information officer at the Colorado Department of Corrections. "However, the sign of a true partner is demonstrated first in the products they provide, and then in the services they offer. A timely and accurate resolution can be as important as the end result. As a Novell customer, it has been my experience that the company's technical support and services organization is one of the best. They are knowledgeable and helpful in ensuring we're leveraging our technology assets to the best of our ability."

Furthermore, the Association of Service Professionals recently named Novell one of the top 10 companies for best web support in 2010. Novell joined other leading vendors, including CheckPoint Software Technologies, Cisco Systems, IBM, Juniper Networks and Microsoft, who were recognized for excellence in online support. Winners were selected based on 25 separate performance criteria covering usability, design and navigation, knowledgebase and search implementation, interactive features and overall customer experience.

"We offer comprehensive technology solutions encompassing server, storage, software, application solutions and services," said Dan Grow, Global Software alliance manager at OnX Enterprise Solutions. "We partner with Novell because not only do they offer the most complete, fully functional Linux operating system available, but their depth of Linux expertise and responsiveness also ensure we can deliver high-quality support to our customers. They trust that we will bring them the best, and Novell is able to exceed our high expectations for knowledge, problem solving ability and versatility, at every stage of deployment."

Markus Rex, senior vice president and general manager of Open Platform Solutions at Novell, said, "Novell is an innovative company that continues to offer the best products and services available to its customers and partners. We are proud of our technical support organization for maintaining an obsessive focus on customer and partner success that has led to industry-leading benchmarks and numerous awards for excellence."

About Novell
Novell, Inc. (Nasdaq: NOVL), a leader in intelligent workload management, through WorkloadIQ™, helps organizations securely deliver and manage computing services across physical, virtual and cloud computing environments. We help customers reduce the cost, complexity, and risk associated with their IT systems through our solutions for identity and security, systems management, collaboration and Linux-based operating platforms. With our infrastructure software and ecosystem of partnerships, Novell integrates mixed IT environments, allowing people and technology to work as one. For more information, visit www.novell.com.

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