Novell appoints Microtronica

Vendor targets the Intel system builder channel

By Doug Woodburn

More from this author

12 Feb 2007

Be the first to comment

  • Digg
  • Tweet

Open source software vendor Novell has made an aggressive lunge for the Intel system builder channel by appointing Microtronica as its fifth UK and Ireland distributor.

The alliance will see Arrow-owned Microtronica push Novell’s SuSE Linux operating system as an alternative to Microsoft Vista.

Les Billing, managing director of Microtronica, said: “The goal of the partnership is to enable local system builders to be more competitive against tier-one vendors. They need a competitive alternative to Vista, and SuSE Linux Enterprise 10 offers that.”

John Bainbridge, partner sales director UK and Ireland at Novell, told CRN that Novell is also aggressively targeting the Microsoft Gold partner space.

“We have had a lot of interest in our platform from Microsoft resellers,” he claimed.

Novell currently works with Bell Micro, Computer 2000 and Interactive Ideas in the UK, and Irish broadliner Sharptext.

Mark Johnson, general manager software Europe at Bell, said he was “disappointed and surprised” by the appointment. “I can understand Novell wants to move into the system builder space, but there are opportunities in its existing distribution channel,” he said.

Peter Dawes-Huish, chief executive of VAR LinuxIT, said: “I welcome any move by SuSE or any of the other Linux distributors to broaden their touch to potential customers.” 

Novell alters partner levels

display:none
Loading
We won't publish your address
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms & Conditions

Your comment will be moderated before publication.

Will Apple's attitude to the channel change in 2012?

44%

20%

35%

1%

CRN Partner Connect 2012

CRN Partner Connect logo

CRN's premier networking event is back on 17 May at the Ricoh Arena

Date: Thu 17 May 2012

CRN Fight Night 2012

One of the fights from CRN Fight Night 2010

Channel fighters preparing to square up once more on 24 May

Date: Thu 24 May 2012

Sign up for our range of FREE newsletters:

Submit your email address and we'll send a link to a personal newsletter control panel

fragment image

The mobile enterprise: Secure the data, not the device

The proliferation of endpoint devices within the enterprise has highlighted the shortcomings of one of the traditional approaches to data security

fragment image

Measuring the ROI of Google Apps

This Forrester report compares the costs and benefits of legacy email and productivity software with Google Apps


Dave the dealer blog

Dave the dealer

Clocking off

Dave discovers that rozzers are seemingly living in the technology dark ages

View from the channel

Views from the Channel

Departing CEO has done Dixons a service

Mark Needham, founder of distributor Widget, argues that John Browett leaves for Apple with Dixons in better shape than when he arrived

To send to more than one email address, simply separate each address with a comma.