HP and SUSE Linux Expand Global Alliance

June 26, 2003


Customers Now Have Price, Performance Advantages of SUSE Linux with Single Contact Support from HP

Palo Alto, Calif.

HP (NYSE:HPQ) and SUSE Linux today announced that HP will resell and support SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 8, powered by UnitedLinux, on industry-standard HP ProLiant servers and HP's Itanium®-based servers. This relationship provides customers a single point of purchase, support and maintenance for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 8 and makes SUSE Linux a preferred vendor for HP.

"This partnership between SUSE Linux and HP will advance the cause of Linux servers running enterprise-class workloads," said Jean S. Bozman, research vice president, worldwide server group, IDC. "SUSE is the provider of one of the world's top Linux distributions, and HP is the server vendor that shipped the largest number of Linux server units worldwide in 2002. This agreement between the two companies, which have been working together for more than five years, addresses customers' business requirements to have a single point of responsibility for enterprise-level Linux server support. It will help both of the companies to grow Linux server sales in Europe and worldwide."

HP will resell, market and support the new SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 8 on industry-standard HP ProLiant servers. Preloaded solutions are available as an option on HP ProLiant servers. Customers utilizing SUSE Linux Enterprise Server on HP servers will now also receive support from the HP Services and support organizations backed by SUSE engineering and product maintenance teams. In addition, HP and SUSE will collaborate on extending this innovative services offering to Itanium 2-based HP server customers.

"As the world leader in Linux-based solutions, HP offers customers the freedom to choose and manage the operating platform, hardware and software that best fits the needs of their business," said Martin Fink, vice president of Linux, HP Enterprise Servers and Storage . "HP is building upon a five-year relationship with SUSE one of the world's most widely used Linux distributions, to offer customers industry-standard platforms that increase their return on IT."

SUSE Linux partners with top software and hardware vendors, like HP, to bring end-to-end Linux solutions to the enterprise.

"SUSE Linux harnesses the innovations, return on investment and quality of the open source community to bring enterprise-ready products and services to businesses worldwide," said Richard Seibt, chief executive officer, SUSE Linux. "This agreement with HP more closely aligns hardware and software - giving customers more streamlined purchasing, support and services."

More information on HP's Linux offerings is available at
http://www.hp.com/linux.

About HP

HP delivers vital technology for business and life. The company's solutions span IT infrastructure, personal computing and access devices, global services and imaging and printing for consumers, enterprises and small and medium business. For the last four quarters, HP revenue totaled $70.4 billion. More information about HP is available at http://www.hp.com.

Editorial Contact:
Elizabeth Phillips, HP
+1 650 447 4034
elizabeth_phillips2@hp.com

Joe Eckert, SUSE
+1 203 270 3711
jeckert@suse.com

Hewlett-Packard Company
3000 Hanover Street
Mail Stop 1048
Palo Alto, CA 94304
www.hp.com

About Novell
Novell, Inc. is a leading provider of information solutions that deliver secure identity management (Novell® Nsure™), Web application development (Novell exteNd™) and cross-platform networking services (Novell Nterprise™), all supported by strategic consulting and professional services (Novell NgageSM). Active in the open source community with its Ximian and SUSE Linux brands, Novell is firmly committed to open source and offers comprehensive Linux products and services for the enterprise, from the desktop to the server. Novell's vision of one Net - a world without information boundaries - helps customers realize the value of their information securely and economically. For more information, call Novell's Customer Response Center at (888) 321-4CRC (4272) or visit http://www.novell.com. Press should visit http://www.novell.com/pressroom.

Novell is a registered trademarks; Nsure, exteNd and Nteprise are trademarks; and Ngage is a service mark of Novell, Inc. in the United States and other countries. SUSE is a registered trademark of SUSE Linux AG. * All third-party trademarks are the property of their respective owners.