Computer Associates, Inc. (NYSE: CA) has announced a distribution, marketing and support agreement with Linux vendor Red Hat, Inc.
Under the terms of the agreement — which builds upon an established relationship — Red Hat will bundle enterprise management solutions produced by Computer Associates with the Enterprise Edition packages of its distribution of the Linux operating system. In turn, the Computer Associates direct sales organization will sell Red Hat’s enterprise support agreements to users of its Unicenter TNG management product for Linux.
“CA recognizes the crucial role that the Linux operating platform has assumed within today’s highly competitive business landscape and technology infrastructures,” commented Computer Associates president and COO Sanjay Kumar.
Red Hat Enterprise users will now have access to Computer Associates solutions, including the ARCserveIT storage, InoculateIT antivirus, MasterIT Linux-based Web management and NetworkIT centralized management products.
Computer Associates has entered into similar strategic relationships with Linux vendors Caldera Systems, SuSE and TurboLinux.
Computer Associates and Linux
“CA has clearly embraced Linux as a corporate computing platform and is providing customers with the tools they need to effectively deploy Linux in the context of a well-managed enterprise environment,” stated Yankee Group analyst Colin Mahony. “Vendor commitments like these will be critical in determining the success of Linux within the enterprise.”
In December of 1999, Computer Associates established the CA Enterprise Linux Advisory Council, a business initiative that focuses on identifying and defining new products and projects. The Computer Associates development team coordinates the effort in conjunction with members of the industry, including representatives from Center7, Inc., Fidelity Investments, the Georgia Institute of Technology and Red Hat, among others.
“Linux and open-source software continue to make tremendous inroads in enterprise organizations across a wide variety of industries,” observed Paul McNamara, general manager of the enterprise business unit for Red Hat. “The Linux Advisory Council brings together leaders from all of those industries to identify key user needs and help further accelerate the adoption of open-source software.”
According to the agreement, Computer Associates will extend Express Delivery Service for Linux through its Global Professional Services organization. Additionally, Red Hat will fulfill orders through its e-commerce and information Web site.
About Red Hat
The Research Triangle Park, North Carolina-based Red Hat has developed strategic partner, distributor and reseller alliances with PC and server manufacturers, including Compaq, Dell, Gateway, IBM, Hewlett-Packard and Silicon Graphics. Red Hat has also collaborated with Intel on PXE server support and optimizations for the Pentium III processor.
According to IT media research specialists International Data Corp. (IDC), almost 69 percent of Linux users in the U.S. are running a Red Hat software solution.
The company, founded in 1994, shares its software freely with the open-source community under the GNU General Public License (GPL).
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