Companies Further Relationship to Offer Long-Term Support and Maintenance Strategy for Linux as an Open Platform for SAP(R) Applications
SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) and Novell (NASDAQ: NOVL) today announced that they have extended their relationship to offer a new joint support solution for customers who run their SAP® applications on SUSE® Linux Enterprise Server from Novell®. With today's announcement, customers who run their SAP applications on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server now have a single support entry point, from the operating system through the application, to streamline resolution of support incidents, reduce complexity and lower the total cost of ownership. Branded as "SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Priority Support for SAP applications," the offering is available starting today and is a maintenance and support package provided by Novell that will be integrated through the SAP® Solution Manager application management solution into the SAP global support backbone for managing the entire life cycle of SAP applications. Through this agreement, SAP continues its commitment to deliver value to customers who choose to run open source and commercial software based on open standards. The announcement was made at SAPPHIRE® '07 Vienna, SAP's international customer conference being held in Vienna, Austria, May 14-16.
Novell and SAP plan to work together in the future to further optimize SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP application platforms, including SAP NetWeaver® and SAP Business Suite. Further, SAP recommends SUSE Linux Enterprise Server as a preferred platform for customers who want to deploy SAP applications on Linux*. The combination of SAP Business Suite on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server will provide consistent manageability of SAP applications in mixed, open source and commercial software environments.
"Customers want choice, and since most of them run heterogeneous IT environments, using both open source and commercial software, we recognize the need to make service and support as smooth as possible," said Gerhard Oswald, member of the executive board, Global Service and Support, SAP AG. "SAP has a long-standing commitment to the open source community, including working with key technical standards organizations to create interoperability with commercial software. Our agreement with Novell makes it truly possible for companies to get long-term support and maintenance when deploying SAP applications on Linux, and continues to illustrate the openness and flexibility of business process platforms enabled by SAP and focused on the business and technical standards that drive business process agility and innovation."
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Priority Support for SAP applications is focused on optimizing price performance for customers' mission-critical workloads and includes volume discounts designed for application configurations. Customers who purchase in the next 90 days will receive an additional discount on the first year. Please visit www.sdn.sap.com or www.novell.com/sapsupport for further details.
"This deal is an example of two industry leaders coming together on behalf of customers," said Ron Hovsepian, president and CEO, Novell. "Both SAP and Novell have heard from our customers that they are looking for a complete stack solution, from the operating system up to the application, with an integrated source of technical support that will help them lower cost and reduce complexity. SUSE Linux Enterprise Server is a recommended Linux distribution and internal development platform for SAP applications, and its further optimization will deliver the performance, reliability and scalability that customers demand when running their operations on SAP."
In the future, SAP and Novell plan to explore other ways in which to further optimize SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for an SAP applications environment. The two vendors have a long-standing relationship working together, including having SUSE Linux Enterprise Server as a development platform for SAP applications, a scalable part of the infrastructure available via SAP Developer Network (SDN). The companies have previously announced several joint technical solutions including an optimized high-availability solution. By leveraging the scalability of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server – including its ability to scale to 1024 CPUs and more than 10TB of physical memory – Novell and SAP can offer a Linux-based solution with the performance required by customers who run their mission-critical business operations on SAP applications.
Novell, Inc. (Nasdaq: NOVL) delivers infrastructure software for the Open Enterprise. Novell is a leader in enterprise-wide operating systems based on Linux and open source and provides the enterprise management services required to operate mixed IT environments. Novell helps customers minimize cost, complexity and risk, allowing them to focus on innovation and growth. For more information, visit www.novell.com.
SAP is the world's leading provider of business software*. Today, more than 39,400 customers in more than 120 countries run SAP(R) applications -- from distinct solutions addressing the needs of small businesses and midsize companies to suite offerings for global organizations. Powered by the SAP NetWeaver(R) platform to drive innovation and enable business change, SAP software helps enterprises of all sizes around the world improve customer relationships, enhance partner collaboration and create efficiencies across their supply chains and business operations. SAP solution portfolios support the unique business processes of more than 25 industries, including high tech, retail, financial services, healthcare and the public sector. With subsidiaries in more than 50 countries, the company is listed on several exchanges, including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE under the symbol "SAP." Additional information at http://www.sap.com.
Novell and SUSE 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.
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