Sesame Workshop Welcomes Novell to the Neighborhood

Novell today announced that Sesame Workshop, the non-profit educational organization behind the ground-breaking children's television program “Sesame Street,” has selected Novell to streamline its hardware and software infrastructure. Using Novell® ZENworks® Asset Management, which provides a complete and accurate view of the organization's software licenses, inventories and usage, Sesame Workshop is now better able to comply with audit requests and properly manage its leasing contracts. By consolidating its Web server infrastructure using Xen* virtualization on SUSE® Linux Enterprise Server, Sesame Workshop is lowering server hardware costs, increasing flexibility and enabling its data center to dynamically respond to the needs of its business.

Improving Compliance with ZENworks Asset Management

“Novell ZENworks Asset Management is a good fit for us because it works across multiple platforms including Linux, UNIX*, Windows and Macintosh*,” said Noah Broadwater, vice president of Information Services at Sesame Workshop. “With ZENworks Asset Management, we know exactly what is installed and where. Having a real-time inventory makes it easy for us to comply with software licensing requirements, as well as our leasing schedules.”

As a non-profit educational organization, Sesame Workshop leases most of its desktops, laptops and servers. The organization selected Novell ZENworks Asset Management to automate the process of tracking hardware and software inventory. The policy-based asset management process has enabled the company to decrease the time it takes to inventory and distribute new equipment. With ZENworks Asset Management, the organization has reduced its inventory management time by 70 percent, freeing its small IT staff to focus on more strategic projects while ensuring the proper management of its licensing contracts. In addition, the organization is using Novell identity and security management solutions to provide more than 10,000 users with secure access to its intranet.

“Sesame Workshop needs technology solutions that help them focus on effectively and efficiently reaching millions of children, parents and educators,” said Joe Wagner, senior vice president and general manager of Novell Systems and Resource Management. “With Novell ZENworks Asset Management, Sesame Workshop has simplified its asset management process and gained control over their software and hardware licensing, allowing them to cost-effectively fulfill their educational mission.”

Reducing Cost with Xen Virtualization

Sesame Workshop also selected SUSE Linux Enterprise Server from Novell to run its Web infrastructure at roughly 15 percent of the cost of a proprietary solution. With the Xen virtualization built into SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, the company has reduced its Web server footprint by 80 percent and its hardware costs by 30 percent, because they can now use virtual Web servers to run multiple Web sites. By leveraging open source software, the organization has dramatically reduced its software costs, contributing to an overall IT budget reduction of 18 percent.

Sesame Workshop is also replacing its Sun* Solaris*, Microsoft* Windows* and Debian servers with SUSE Linux Enterprise Server. Since migrating to Linux*, the company has demonstrated dramatic improvement in its Web performance as its home page load time decreased by 130 percent.

“Instead of paying for proprietary hardware with UNIX, we can now get competitive pricing from all the major hardware vendors,” Broadwater said. “Moving to SUSE Linux Enterprise Server gives us the robustness of Linux, as well as the option to run whatever open source tools best fit our business. The cost savings are incredible.”

Roger Levy, Novell senior vice president and general manager of Open Platform Solutions, said, “By leveraging Xen virtualization in SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, Sesame Workshop achieves high performance at a lower cost than proprietary virtualization software. We're pleased to be part of the Sesame Workshop neighborhood and are thrilled they are using the entire suite of Novell software – from Linux to asset management to identity management – to increase flexibility in their data center and lower costs, so they can focus on their core business of educating children around the globe.”