IBM and Red Hat Team to Accelerate Linux Adoption in Emerging Markets

Red Hat and IBM today announced a global initiative to help accelerate the development and adoption of Linux-based solutions in emerging markets, such as China, India, Russia and Korea as well as in established markets worldwide.

The two companies will provide software developers around the world with technical resources, expertise and implementation services to help them port and certify their new applications on IBM software and hardware andRed Hat Enterprise Linux more quickly and cost-effectively. As a result, developers can more easily build standards-based solutions that won't lock customers into a proprietary operating environments, eliminating the need to rip and replace existing systems.

A shift is occurring in emerging markets as the number of customers demanding technology solutions based on open source and open standards continues to accelerate. According to an IDC study, industry sales of Linux servers surpassed the $1 billion mark in revenue for the fourth consecutive quarter, while in the second quarter of 2005 worldwide Linux sales grew 45 percent.(1)

Additionally, IBM is offering 29 new Linux skill-building tutorials on developerWorks, IBM's resource for developers. These tutorials offer top-notch training to help developers attain professional competence and certification in Linux systems and network administration. Since 2003, more than 100,000 Linux developers have joined IBM's developerWorks community and have created more than 6,500 Linux-based applications. Every month, about 250,000 developers visit developerWorks' Linux zone, and more than 10,000 developers use developerWorks' Linux tutorials to hone their skills.

"Linux in the enterprise has reached a tipping point and we see customer adoption accelerating even more in emerging markets such as India and China, driven by the need for security, flexibility and low total cost of ownership," said Shachar Melamed, director of business development, Sky Solutions. "The trend we see in the marketplace is obvious where customers, even those who had no intentions of deploying Linux-based systems, are now demanding solutions that are open and platform agnostic than the proprietary Windows infrastructure. With IBM's indispensable expertise and help at the Innovation Centers and withRed Hat Enterprise Linux as a solid foundation, we can now support a variety of platforms for our customers. IBM's tremendous support for ISVs interested in porting their applications to Linux indicates IBM's commitment to the open source community as a whole."

As part of this initiative, Red Hat will provide ISVs with copies of Red Hat Enterprise Linux with supporting documentation and access to Red Hat Network. The company will also facilitate onsite registration for Red Hat's Technology Partner Program to help ISVs certify their applications on Red Hat Enterprise Linux on IBM hardware and middleware. At the IBM Innovation Centers, IBM will offer ISVs consulting support and technical expertise to help them migrate, test, develop and implement their applications forRed Hat Enterprise Linux on IBM platforms.

IBM and Red Hat will provide developers with technical resources and development support at IBM Innovation Centers in fifteen locations across Asia, North America and Europe. ISVs can leverage resources at the IBM Innovation Centers in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou (China), Bangalore (India), Seoul (Korea), Tokyo (Japan), Waltham (MA), Chicago (IL), San Mateo (CA), Sydney (Australia), Hursley (UK), Paris (France), Stuttgart (Germany), Moscow (Russia) and Amsterdam (Netherlands).

IBM's network of Innovation Centers worldwide provides developers and business partners with easy access to technical skills, resources and business expertise to help them more easily build, deploy and optimize customized solutions based on IBM's open middleware and hardware technology. As a result, business partners can go to market faster, while reducing development costs. In 2004 alone, IBM completed more than 400 Linux enablements at Innovation Centers worldwide.

"Red Hat has established leadership in emerging markets such as China, India, Russia, Korea and Japan and we are excited for this opportunity to work with IBM to take the next steps to enable the global ecosystem of developers and ISVs," said Tim Yeaton, Senior Vice President of Marketing atRed Hat. "Red Hat Enterprise Linux on the IBM POWER platform is becoming a standard, low-cost solution for global ISVs and their customers."

"Linux is taking off in different parts of the world and IBM is making an effort to empower ISVs to leverage the growing market opportunity by providing assets to develop or port applications to Linux on POWER platforms," said Todd Chase, program director, IBM Innovation Centers. "To date, we have enabled more than 1,300 ISV applications for Linux on POWER, and we expect to grow that number by 200 new applications per quarter. This collaboration with Red Hat will help the ISV community worldwide test and certify their applications at IBM Innovation Centers for Red Hat Enterprise Linux on IBM platforms, expanding customer choice to deploy affordable Linux-based applications in their existing environments."

More information can be found at: http://www.redhat.com/solutions/partners/ and at http://www.ibm.com/partnerworld/iic Web site for dW (www.ibm.com/developerWorks).

About Red Hat, Inc.

Red Hat, the world's leading open source and Linux provider, is headquartered in Raleigh, NC with satellite offices spanning the globe. Red Hat is leading Linux and open source solutions into the mainstream by making high quality, low cost technology accessible. Red Hat provides operating system software along with middleware, applications, and management solutions. Red Hat also offers support, training and consulting services to its customers worldwide and through top-tier partnerships. Red Hat's Open Source strategy offers customers a long-term plan for building infrastructures that are based on and leverage open source technologies with focus on security and ease of management. For more information, visit http://www.redhat.com/index.html.

About IBM

IBM is the world's largest information technology company, with 80 years of leadership in helping businesses innovate. Drawing on resources from across IBM and key Business Partners, IBM offers a wide range of services, solutions and technologies that enable customers, large and small, to take full advantage of the new era of e-business. For more information, visit www.ibm.com/linux.

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