Red Hat Announces SAP Has Certified Its Applications on Red Hat Enterprise Linux Running on IBM System z Mainframes

Business Wire, Feb 5, 2008

Certification for Supported Deployments of SAP(R) Solutions Brings System z Security, Consolidation and Energy Savings to Customers

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Red Hat (NYSE: RHT), the world's leading provider of open source solutions, today announced that SAP AG has certified the SAP(R) Business Suite family of business applications and the SAP NetWeaver(R) platform on Red Hat Enterprise Linux running on IBM System z mainframes. Red Hat customers can now capitalize on the mainframe's robust security capabilities and support for deploying their SAP applications.

SAP's certification of its solutions on Red Hat Enterprise Linux is part of the worldwide Linux-on-Mainframe program led by IBM and Red Hat. The program was initiated in May 2007 as a result of the increasing deployment of Red Hat Enterprise Linux on mainframes by governments and companies worldwide that are taking advantage of the potential economic value, security and energy-efficiency benefits of the joint platform.

"The mainframe is experiencing a renaissance," said Scott Crenshaw, vice president, Enterprise Linux Business at Red Hat. "Many of our customers are planning consolidation projects right now. Often the deployment of Red Hat Enterprise Linux on mainframes plays a central role in these projects. With this certification, Red Hat ensures that customers can confidently run their SAP applications in a consolidated infrastructure with Red Hat Enterprise Linux on IBM System z mainframes."

In combination with the mainframe's proven security thresholds, Red Hat Enterprise Linux provides additional functions such as Security-Enhanced Linux (SELinux) and ExecShield. In addition to the Common Criteria certifications already available to customers of System z, IBM is sponsoring the EAL 4 certification of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 on System z. The existing certifications, which include LSPP on z/VM and z/OS, combined with the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 certification, help provide a secure platform environment capable of meeting stringent public and private sector security policies.

"This certification gives customers more flexibility. By consolidating many SAP application-based services on Linux running on System z, our customers can simplify their landscape and lower their operational costs and through IBM's Big Green Linux initiative, help customers reduce energy costs," said Carol Stafford, vice president of Worldwide System z Sales at IBM.

For more information on Red Hat, visit www.redhat.com. For more information on IBM System Z, visit www.ibm.com/systems/z.> About Red Hat, Inc.

Red Hat, the world's leading open source solutions provider, is headquartered in Raleigh, NC with over 50 satellite offices spanning the globe. CIOs have ranked Red Hat first for value in Enterprise Software for four consecutive years in the CIO Insight Magazine Vendor Value study. Red Hat provides high-quality, affordable technology with its operating system platform, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, together with applications, management and Services Oriented Architecture (SOA) solutions, including the JBoss Enterprise Middleware Suite. Red Hat also offers support, training and consulting services to its customers worldwide. Learn more: http://www.redhat.com.

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