SUSE is Europe's leading provider of software and services based on the Open Source operating system Linux. Enterprise customers benefit from SUSE individually tailored Open Source solutions, their low total cost and their ease of implementation and management. For the IT infrastructure within corporate customers, SUSE offers cost-efficient and easy-to-administer standard products, such as the SUSE eMail Server and SUSE Linux Firewall on CD, delivering almost turnkey solutions to businesses most pressing requirements. Private customers appreciate SUSE Linux, too: the award-winning software package, its ease of use and the variety of applications it delivers. The comprehensive range of SUSEservices and products is based on the unique know-how of the world's largest development team for Open Source solutions.
"We are convinced that SUSE and Linux are heading toward a bright future in the server and enterprise computing sectors," says Tillmann Lauk, Ph.D., CEO of the lead investor e-millennium 1. "For many large enterprises, the combination of SUSE and Linux is synonymous with reliability and performance. In the past years, SUSE has reached a successful position in this area, thus fulfilling all requirements for over-proportionate growth in the service business, which is attractive on a long-term basis."
In order to meet the demands of the diverse customer groups even better in the future, SUSE Linux AG has adapted its organizational structure to these customer segments. As a consequence of this strategical focusing, and after a period of concentrated international growth during last year, SUSE Linux AG continues the course of consolidation that started this summer. Therefore, SuSE will be reducing its total headcount by 120 employees at the five international and seven national locations, by the end of the year. The job reduction will be conducted with the utmost care and consideration for SUSEstaff and in close cooperation with the German workers council. After the cost reduction, SUSE Linux AG will have 380 employees worldwide.
Substantial Growth in the Sectors of Business Solutions and Services
During the past months, SUSE Linux has launched SUSE Linux Firewall on CD, SUSE Linux Database Server, and the cross platform SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 7, thus substantially expanding its range of products and solutions. Explaining the strategic positioning, Johannes Nussbickel, CEO of SUSE Linux AG, says: "Apart from the rapidly increasing demand for Linux software solutions, we are also seeing a growing demand for qualified IT services such as planning and implementation, support and training. In the segment of technical services for Linux, SuSE currently is the only provider of such a complete and modular service portfolio from one single source."
This view is supported by a recent study of the IDC market researchers, which was conducted among 800 IT decision makers in North America and Western Europe. Summarizing the results, study coordinator Scott McLarnon remarks as follows: "Linux has long become a standard in companies. Almost 40% of all interviewees already utilize Linux productively or in a test environment. The well-known Linux advantages scalability, performance, and stability have gained importance with the decision makers."
About e-millennium 1
e-millennium 1 is a venture capital/private equity fund with an investment focus in the telecom, media and technology industries. The total fund volume amounts to EUR 210m. Based on the advancement of the high speed/broadband transmission technologies, the strong increase in the digitalisation of content, in combination with ever higher processing speed and storage capacity, corporations in all sectors will be able to radically transform their internal supply chains and the way they interact with their customers and suppliers. This environment provides a multitude of opportunities for new ventures to provide technologically based products and services to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of established companies. e-millennium 1 invests in ventures with proof of business concept thereby focussing on expansion and late stage phases. e-millennium 1 has a unique set of established and powerful investors with a high value contribution potential along all stages of the investment process.
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.