Red Hat, Inc. (NASDAQ: RHAT), the worlds leading provider of open source to the enterprise, and IBM, today announced that Oxfordshire County Council is nearing conclusion of the installation of Red Hat Enterprise Linux on IBM System x and IBM BladeCenter systems across more than 282 of its remote client systems in the county’s schools. The system is used to deliver local web caching within the County’s schools system, to improve response times on the “safe” schools’ Internet.
The council has deployed Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS and two Intel-based IBM System x servers at each secondary school. These systems also run Websense web filtering software to protect against inappropriate content. A single server solution is deployed in primary schools. The complete system comprises 426 Academic servers with provisioning modules and one Red Hat Satellite Server. Each school has tiered access to the county council’s high-speed internet connection, via a central cache.
The Council also opted for Red Hat Network to enable central updates and patches. The Red Hat Satellite Server, deployed in the central computing facility, enables the Council’s IT administrators to have maximum flexibility and save time in the management of the remote systems.
“As part of the government’s provision of Grant 31B for improved Internet access in schools, we had to look a fresh at how best to enable our pupils to work in a safe environment but still deliver a fast and reliable online learning experience. With Red Hat Enterprise Linux we not only benefit from a cost effective solution, but we also receive a very stable, secure and reliable enterprise-class Linux distribution, that delivers on-going systems management and provides access to new releases via Red Hat’s subscription model. This not only meets our educational requirements but also addresses the ongoing IT support issues we face”, said Kathryn Proudlock, ICT Project Manager, at Oxfordshire County Council.
An IBM services team from Integrated Technology Solutions (ITS) worked together with Red Hat to build the Satellite environment and assisted with the subsequent deployment methodology and staff training. The consultation process began in February 2005, culminating in the installation of six secondary school pilot sites in August. The rollout commenced during November 2005 with the remaining secondary schools and the commencement of installation for the primary and special schools in January 2006. There have been 277 installations completed to date.
Oxfordshire County Council wanted the roll out to be as smooth as possible without its own IT people spending too much time and resources on each individual Linux installation. The deployment was undertaken by a third party company, Evesham, whose technicians had no Linux skills, so it was imperative that installation of the systems required minimal intervention and that adequate training was provided. By using the provisioning facilities of the Satellite Server and by packaging all third party applications into rpm format such that they could be managed by the Satellite Server, the only operation the technicians had to perform was boot the system from a custom CD.
Oxfordshire County Council has been so impressed with the simplicity of the roll-out process and the comprehensive training it received that it has taken on the remaining deployments single-handedly with the help of Evesham, with Red Hat and IBM only needing to provide occasional support as required.
“The solution for Oxfordshire County Council is a great example of how Linux can be used cost effectively within the public sector and the successful awarding of the solution to Red Hat, a reflection of the attractive academic pricing framework available for public sector organisations. The council’s choice of Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Red Hat Network is also recognition of the quality of our services and solutions, as well as the performance, stability and high availability that an open source architecture can deliver”, commented Werner Knoblich, Vice President, EMEA at Red Hat.
For more information on Oxfordshire County Council please visit http://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/
For more information on Red Hat’s Global Education Solutions, please visit http://www.europe.redhat.com/solutions/industries/education/
About Oxfordshire County Council
Oxfordshire County Council provides 12 nursery schools, 234 primary schools, 34 secondary schools and 14 special schools to children in the area. Each year the council manages £0.5 billion of public money in the provision of key public services on behalf of Oxfordshire’s 615,000 people. The council has responsibility for many key local services. These include education, the fire service, libraries and museums, social and healthcare and many more.
Learn more: http://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/wps/portal/publicsite
About Red Hat, Inc.
Red Hat, the worlds leading open source solutions provider, is headquartered in Raleigh, NC with satellite offices spanning the globe. The most trusted name in open source, CIOs and other senior-level IT executives have ranked Red Hat as the industrys most valued vendor for two consecutive years 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 web-enabled 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.europe.redhat.com
About IBM
IBM is the worlds largest information technology company, with 80 years of leadership in helping businesses innovate. Drawing on resources from across IBM and key Business Partners, IBM offers a wide range of services, solutions and technologies that enable customers, large and small, to take full advantage of the new era of e-business. For more information about IBM, visit www.ibm.com. For more information on IBMs on demand strategy, visit http://www.ibm.com/ondemand.
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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 potential for infringement or breach of license claims regarding 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 Annual Report on Form 10-K (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 “Management’s 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.
- 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.
