Red Hat Launches Red Hat Certified Support Centre in Cooperation with Opennet in the Middle East

RALEIGH, N.C -

Red Hat (NYSE: RHT), the world’s leading provider of open source solutions, today announced expanded support services for key developing markets in the Middle East with the launch of a Red Hat Certified Support Centre. The support services in the region are provided by Opennet in cooperation with Red Hat. Opennet MEA has been a master distributor of Red Hat Enterprise Linux since 2002 and provides Red Hat training for most of the Middle East and North Africa.


"There is increasing demand for Red Hats open source solutions in the Middle East," said David Allinson, general manager at Opennet. "We are pleased to be extending our agreement with Red Hat, making Opennet the first point of contact for Red Hat support for all customers. Well be adding regional support services to meet this demand and appreciate our ability to work with Red Hat to quickly provide support services in local languages. Red Hat provides proven, high-quality open source solutions and the addition of local language support makes the Red Hat products even more accessible.”


Opennet will officially introduce Red Hat support services into the Middle East beginning in December 2007. Support will be provided in 12 countries including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Libya, Yemen and Egypt and will be offered in select local languages including Arabic, English and French.


Support will be available via local telephone numbers in each country. Calls for technical support logged to Red Hat will be directed by Red Hat’s system to the Opennet Certified Support Team for processing in local languages and at local times, and will then be escalated to Red Hat for upper-level support. Customers will also have the option to purchase on-site delivery of services from Opennet Certified Engineers or Red Hat consultants.


"Linux and open source software adoption is accelerating in developing markets such as the Middle East and local-language support is vital," said Werner Knoblich, vice president and general manager of EMEA at Red Hat. "Our expertise in Linux support, combined with Opennet local language support, ensures that customers will have access to the Red Hat Certified Support Centre, enabling them to migrate solutions to Red Hat and JBoss solutions faster."


For more information about Red Hat, visit http://www.europe.redhat.com. For more news, more often, visit www.press.redhat.com.


About Opennet MEA


Opennet MEA is the Master Distributor and Certified Training & Education Center of Red Hat Inc. in the following regions and countries: United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Sultanate of Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and all African French-speaking countries. Launched in 2003 in Dubai as head quarter for the Opennet Middle East & Africa operations, Opennet MEA aims to transfer its expertise on deploying Red Hat Linux to its covering regions by providing full range of consulting and professional services and assisting organizations and companies with the assessment, design and implementation of Linux solutions for ensuring high availability, reliability, performance, scalability and manageability within IT environments.


Opennet’s Major Share Holder is GMH, one of Tunisia’s Top 5 Holding Groups with more that $400 Million Total Sales in Various Industries for FY2005.
For more information on Opennet MEA, please visit www.opennet.ae


About Red Hat, Inc.


Red Hat, the worlds 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 three consecutive years in the CIO Insight Magazine Vendor Value study. Red Hat provides high-quality, low-cost technology with its operating system platform, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, together with applications, management and Service 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.


Forward-Looking Statements


Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements provide current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions and include any statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including: risks related to the integration of acquisitions; the ability of the Company to effectively compete; the inability to adequately protect Company intellectual property and the potential for infringement or breach of license claims of or relating to third party intellectual property; risks related to data and information security vulnerabilities; ineffective management of, and control over, the Companys growth and international operations; adverse results in litigation; the dependence on key personnel as well as other factors contained in our most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (copies of which may be accessed through the Securities and Exchange Commissions website at http://www.sec.gov), including those found therein under the captions "Risk Factors" and "Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations". In addition, the forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Companys views as of the date of this press release and these views could change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Companys views as of any date subsequent to the date of the press release.


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LINUX is a trademark of Linus Torvalds. RED HAT and JBOSS are registered trademarks of Red Hat, Inc. and its subsidiaries in the US and other countries.


Press contacts:
Mita Srinivasan
Mob: +971 50 4561981
Email: mita@themarketbuzz.net


Andi Lustak
AxiCom for Red Hat
Phone: +44 2083924058
Email: andi.lustak@axicom.com

 

 


 

  • About Red Hat
  • Red Hat is the world’s leading provider of open source software solutions, using a community-powered approach to reliable and high-performing cloud, Linux, middleware, storage and virtualization technologies. Red Hat also offers award-winning support, training, and consulting services. As the connective hub in a global network of enterprises, partners, and open source communities, Red Hat helps create relevant, innovative technologies that liberate resources for growth and prepare customers for the future of IT. Learn more at http://www.redhat.com.



  • Forward-Looking Statements
  • Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements provide current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions and include any statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including: risks related to delays or reductions in information technology spending; the effects of industry consolidation; the ability of the Company to compete effectively; the integration of acquisitions and the ability to market successfully acquired technologies and products; uncertainty and adverse results in litigation and related settlements; the inability to adequately protect Company intellectual property and the potential for infringement or breach of license claims of or relating to third party intellectual property; the ability to deliver and stimulate demand for new products and technological innovations on a timely basis; risks related to data and information security vulnerabilities; ineffective management of, and control over, the Company’s growth and international operations; fluctuations in exchange rates; and changes in and a dependence on key personnel, as well as other factors contained in our most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (copies of which may be accessed through the Securities and Exchange Commission’s website at http://www.sec.gov), including those found therein under the captions "Risk Factors" and "Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations". In addition to these factors, actual future performance, outcomes, and results may differ materially because of more general factors including (without limitation) general industry and market conditions and growth rates, economic and political conditions, governmental and public policy changes and the impact of natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company’s views as of the date of this press release and these views could change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company’s views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.