With its May 6, 2007 joint announcement with Novell Inc., Dell Inc. became the first major systems provider to join the Microsoft/Novell business collaboration pact. The initial agreement was made by the software giants in response to customer demand for greater interoperability and intellectual property (IP) assurance.
As part of the new deal, Dell will purchase SUSE Linux Enterprise Server certificates from Microsoft and establish a services and marketing program to migrate existing Linux users who are not Dell Linux customers to SUSE Linux Enterprise Server.
"Our customers have told us they want interoperability and expect technology vendors to work better together," said Rick Becker, vice president of solutions at Dell Product Group.
This move follows Dell's announcement that it will provide Ubuntu Linux as a desktop operating system option. However, this deal serves to benefit those customers who haven't purchased Linux through Dell and who want to migrate to SUSE Linux Enterprise Server while keeping their Windows-based office automation software.
Under the agreement, Dell will establish a customer marketing team for migrating Linux users who are not Dell Linux customers to SUSE Linux Enterprise Server.
Background: The Microsoft-Novell Agreement
On Nov. 2, 2006, Novell and Microsoft announced a series of agreements to jointly build, market and support solutions to improve interoperability; deliver powerful new virtualization capabilities; and make Microsoft and Novell products work more seamlessly.
Since the announcement, more than 40,000 new certificates for three-year priority support subscriptions to SUSE Linux Enterprise Server have been activated under the Microsoft and Novell collaboration agreement. AIG Technologies Inc., Deutsche Bank AG and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. are among the first companies taking advantage of the benefits of the interoperability agreement between Microsoft and Novell.
More information about the Microsoft and Novell agreement, including other customer announcements, can be found at http://www.moreinterop.com.
