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.”
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