Microsoft and Novell Open Interoperability Lab

Microsoft Corp. and Novell Inc. today announced the opening of the Microsoft and Novell® Interoperability Lab in Cambridge, Mass. Announced last fall as part of Microsoft and Novell’s groundbreaking collaboration agreement, the opening of the lab delivers on a promise the two companies made to work together to create a joint development facility at which Microsoft and Novell technical experts will design and test new software solutions and work with customers and the community to build and support technologies that allow Microsoft® Windows Server® and SUSE® Linux Enterprise to work well together.

“The Microsoft and Novell Interoperability Lab is officially open for business,” said Tom Hanrahan, director of Linux interoperability at Microsoft. “We are pleased to be working with Novell on this joint interoperability effort and are eager to roll up our sleeves and continue the challenging technical work required to make Windows Server and SUSE Linux Enterprise interoperability a reality for our customers.”

“Today’s lab opening is another indicator of the high priority that Novell and Microsoft are giving this collaboration,” said Suzanne Forsberg, Interoperability Lab manager for Novell. “This kind of technical interoperability work requires disciplined effort and dedicated resources, and that’s what this lab is built around. Enterprise customers are demanding exactly the kinds of interoperable solutions that will be the focus of this lab’s work and output.”

Located in Cambridge, the 2,500-square-foot lab and workspace will be home to a combined team of the best and brightest Microsoft and Novell engineers focused on making Windows Server and SUSE Linux Enterprise work better together. The first priority for the lab team will be to ensure interoperability between Microsoft and Novell virtualization technologies. Additional work will include standards-based systems management, identity federation and compatibility of office document formats.

The lab houses more than 80 servers of varying architectures as well as a storage area network. Microsoft and Novell are committed to including other vendors and technologies as the lab continues to grow to create a heterogeneous lab environment that reflects the current IT environments and interoperability challenges facing enterprise customers today.

More information on SUSE Linux Enterprise is available at http://www.novell.com/linux. More information on Microsoft is available at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass.

SAP Acquires Software License and Maintenance Business from Exclusive Partner SAP Arabia to Strengthen Operations in the Middle East and North Africa

SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) today announced the acquisition of the software license and maintenance business of SAP Arabia, its exclusive long-term partner in the region. Under the terms of the agreement, SAP will acquire selected existing assets, including all existing software license and maintenance customer contracts, and trademarks from SAP Arabia. Aligned with SAP’s global go-to-market strategies, SAP will first establish subsidiaries in Dubai and Saudi Arabia to reinforce its ongoing commitment to deliver value and continuous innovation to customers in the region.

“SAP Arabia has created a good foundation, which we intend to build upon in our goal to meet growing market demand in the region,” said Ernie Gunst, president, Customer Solutions Operations Europe Middle East and Africa, SAP. “This acquisition brings SAP closer to its customers and partners, enabling us to offer them greater business value and innovation.”

Sergio Maccotta, who was formerly managing director in charge of the SAP Arabia relationship, has been named managing director of SAP in the Middle East and North Africa. In his new role, Maccotta will be responsible for strategic planning, operational excellence, sales and field operations, professional services and overall performance for the region. Maccotta will report into Bernd Kraus, who has overall responsibility for the South East Europe and Middle East Market Unit.

As part of the agreement, the formerly named SAP Arabia will continue to work with SAP AG as a strategic partner and non-exclusive value-added reseller within the scope of the SAP Partner Edge program.

“This important step in the overall SAP business strategy has been part of our ongoing discussions with SAP to bring product development closer to the region,” said Essam Enany, president of SAP Arabia. “With over 13 years of experience we have acquired a deep understanding of the local market and are well positioned to become one of SAP’s strongest partners. In the future, we plan to focus our resources on the emerging markets and specialized sectors such as SME, public sector and education.”

The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and expected to be completed in SAP’s fourth quarter of 2007. Financial terms of the all cash transaction were not disclosed.

IBM Completes Acquisition of DataMirror

IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced it has completed its acquisition of DataMirror Corporation (TSX: DMC), a publicly held company based in based in Markham, Ontario, Canada.

IBM announced an agreement to acquire DataMirror on July 16, 2007. DataMirror's operations will be integrated into IBM's Information Management software business.

IBM acquired DataMirror to advance its Information on Demand initiative, IBM's strategy for pursuing the growing market opportunity around helping clients capture insights from information so it can be used as a strategic asset. DataMirror is a provider of technology that identifies and captures data that has been added, updated or deleted and allows the changed data to be delivered in real time to processes, applications and databases. This ensures that continuous, trusted information is available for accurate and timely decision-making.

With today's announcement, IBM has completed 21 strategic acquisitions in support of its cross-company Information on Demand effort. The DataMirror acquisition also furthers two important growth areas for IBM's software business -- information integration and dynamic warehousing -- by delivering new, real-time capabilities to each.

DataMirror has approximately 220 employees and more than 2,200 customers, including Debenhams, FedEx Ground, First American Bank, Priority Health, Tiffany & Co. and Union Pacific Railroad.

For more information, go to http://www-306.ibm.com/software/data/.