Red Hat and IBM Open Regional Centre For Support, Research and Development (RCSRD) in Serbia

RALEIGH, N.C -

Red Hat (NYSE: RHT), the worlds leading provider of open source solutions, today announced the opening of the Regional Centre for Support, Research and Development (RCSRD) in Vrsac, Serbia in collaboration with IBM and VDEL, a leading IT Services Distribution company in Eastern Europe. The Centre will provide support, development and educational services to customers, partners and developers throughout South Eastern Europe.


As part of the Red Hat Premium Support Partner program, the RCSRD will service Red Hats customers in Serbia and throughout the region that includes Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia.
RCSRD will be managed by the sole Red Hat Premium Support Partner in the world, VDEL.


The centre is a result of a project initiated in 2005 by the University of Belgrade to create an incubator for new technologies. The project was established as part of the Development Program, created by the Ministry of Science and Environmental Protection in Serbia. The first incubation project was started in February 2006, when IBM, Red Hat and VDEL jointly opened the Linux Innovation and Education Centre in the Faculty of Organisational Science in the University of Belgrade. This initial project provided the education, training and certification on Red Hat and IBM technologies that provided the necessary skills for the opening of the RCSRD.


IBM will provide RCSRD with access to its technologies and knowledge-base, enabling the RCSRD to eventually offer support for IBM open source solutions. This will be the result of the next incubation project which the Faculty of Organisational Science is due to start in March 2007, which will also be supported by IBM and Red Hat. This third project will create additional support services for RCSRD that will be offered throughout the region.


Red Hat and IBM will also promote the Secure Government initiative following the announcement that IBM and Red Hat are the sole holders of the security certificate that satisfies Common Criteria
4+ as per US, NATO and Russian authorities.


The RCSRD is also backed by the city of Vrsac, which has provided the necessary infrastructure and facilities. The decision to select Vrsac was based on the city’s competitive advantages which include: geographical location, multiethnic and multicultural environment, existing infrastructure, qualified resources, and the growth potential of the Serbian market and the surrounding region.
By supporting the opening of the RCRSD, all parties are determined to support Serbia and the wider region in the adoption of Open Source technologies in the broadest manner through the following activities:


− Stimulating the development and implementation of Open Source software in Serbia; − Stimulating the development of educational programs in scientific and educational institution through latest innovations in IT industry; − Providing help in bridging the digital gap through the development program of digital literacy in schools and communities with lower income levels.


For more information please visit www.europe.redhat.com


About VDEL Limited.


VDEL GmbH, headquartered in Vienna Austria, is the leading IT Services Distribution company in the territory of Central Europe, Eastern Europe and Russia. IT Services that VDEL delivers, using most advanced new technology methods, include 24 by 7 product implementation and configuration support, products translation and localization with maintenance of updates and upgrades, education and hands-on training, examination, marketing and sales support. VDEL provides and distributes these and other related services through our local value-add partner network that helps customers increase their productivity using selected vendor and open source products. http://www.vdel.com


About Red Hat, Inc.


Red Hat, the world’s leading open source solutions provider, is headquartered in Raleigh, NC with satellite offices spanning the globe. CIOs rank Red Hat the most valuable software vendor three years running in the CIO Insight Magazine Vendor Value study. Red Hat is leading Linux and open source solutions into the mainstream by making high-quality, low-cost technology accessible.
Red Hat provides an operating system platform, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, along with applications, management, and middleware solutions, including JBoss Enterprise Middleware Suite. Red Hat is accelerating the shift to service-oriented architectures and enabling the next generation of webenabled applications running on a low-cost, secure open source platform. Red Hat also offers support, training and consulting services to its customers worldwide and through top-tier partnerships. Red Hats open source strategy offers customers a long term plan for building infrastructures that are based on and leverage open source technologies with a focus on security and ease of management. 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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  • 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.