Novell Secures Major Enterprise Linux Agreement With Swiss Government

WALTHAM, Mass., Dec. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Novell (Nasdaq: NOVL) today announced a breakthrough agreement with the Swiss Federal Government that will see the introduction of Novell's enterprise Linux* technology across Switzerland's public sector IT infrastructure. Novell was selected following a formal tender process during which the company conclusively demonstrated it can provide the strongest Linux solution for public sector environments. As a result, more than 3,000 servers operated by the Swiss Federal Government will now run on Novell's SUSE(R) Linux platform.

"Linux has been gradually introduced into various government departments in recent years, but this is the first formalized procurement process regarding the introduction of Linux at a federal level," said Jurg Roemer, Delegate for Information Strategy of the Swiss Federal Government. "The agreement we have reached applies to the entire Federal Government and will see the adoption of Novell's SUSE Linux throughout the Swiss federal administration."

Tom Francese, president of Novell Europe, Middle East and Africa, said, "The Swiss Federal Government wants greater operational efficiencies and lower costs from its technology infrastructure. This agreement is a great vote of confidence in Novell, Linux and open source, and serves as a strong example for other large organizations, whether public or private, who are looking to open standards and open source to improve their operations." About Novell

Novell, Inc. delivers Software for the Open Enterprise(TM). With more than 50,000 customers in 43 countries, Novell helps customers manage, simplify, secure and integrate their technology environments by leveraging best-of-breed, open standards-based software. With over 20 years of experience, more than 5,000 employees, 5,000 partners and support centers around the world, Novell helps customers gain control over their IT operating environment while reducing cost. More information about Novell can be found at http://www.novell.com . NOTE: Novell and SUSE are registered trademarks and Software for the Open Enterprise is a trademark 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.