Back in August, The VAR Guy reported that Lenovo was preparing to launch its first servers. Our resident blogger expected the operating system options to include Windows Server, Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Novell SUSE Linux. Turns out, Red Hat wasn't invited to the Lenovo server party -- at least not initially. Hey, let's not weep for Red Hat. They're still got the most popular Linux offering for business on the planet. But something interesting is occurring at Novell.

The VAR Guy

September 17, 2008

1 Min Read
Lenovo's New Servers: Novell Beats Red Hat to the Punch

Back in August, The VAR Guy reported that Lenovo was preparing to launch its first servers. Our resident blogger expected the operating system options to include Windows Server, Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Novell SUSE Linux. Turns out, Red Hat wasn’t invited to the Lenovo server party — at least not initially.

Hey, let’s not weep for Red Hat. They’re still got the most popular Linux offering for business on the planet. But something interesting is occurring at Novell.

  • Servers: The Lenovo deal positions SUSE Linux to find its way into more small businesses with up to 500 seats.

  • Desktops and Mobile: Companies like Hewlett-Packard now push SUSE Linux on so-called Netbooks (sub-notebooks) in the retail channel.

  • Thin Clients: Watch for Novell to work even more closely with Wyse, the thin client specialist. You’ll find early details here.

Still, the news isn’t all good at Novell. The company lost money in its most recent quarter, and Linux open represents about 12 percent of Novell’s overall revenue. Plus, new Novell channel chief Javier Colado will need to move fast if he hopes to build the company’s open source partner base.

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