"This partnership between SuSE Linux and HP will advance the cause of Linux servers running enterprise-class workloads", stated 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 utilising SuSE Linux Enterprise Server on HP servers will now also receive support from the HP Services and support organisations 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", stated 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", stated 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."