Red Hat Enterprise Linux with Zarafa’s Open Messaging Platform Enhances Availability, Reliability and Scalability
Amersfoort, the Netherlands – March 29, 2012 – Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE: RHT), the world’s leading provider of open source solutions, and Zarafa, a leading European company in open source groupware and collaboration software, announced that the Dutch supermarket chain PLUS has selected Zarafa’s Communication and Collaboration Platform running on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 enterprise operating system. The implementation is expected to be completed in early 2012.
Supermarket chain PLUS has 269 owned shops and 229 franchise outlets across the Netherlands. It was looking for a scalable, highly available and stable collaboration and communication platform that included calendar, continuous access to emails via remote access and mobile devices from any location, address book synchronizing to and from Active Directory, automated user management, and most importantly a system that enables easy expansion in the future. This was not possible before the implementation due to an outdated system that was installed in 1999 and the chain's Outlook platform, which ran on fat clients and did not allow for synchronization with mobile devices.
PLUS selected a Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 and Zarafa Collaboration Platform solution to run on PLUS’s private cloud infrastructure because of the web client's extensive potential, its excellent performance, the proven open source technology that facilitates integration with the entire portal system. This implementation creates a hybrid environment in which Zarafa and the archiving systems are separate and saved on different types of storage enabling PLUS to realize cost savings.
The Resilient Storage Add-On for Red Hat Enterprise Linux clustering technology creates a high availability cluster for the Zarafa storage servers, Zarafa archive servers and Apache web servers, which offer Zarafa web access and Z-push mobility services and enable services to be highly available by reducing downtime. It provides failover of services from one cluster node to another in case a node becomes inoperative.
PLUS expects to initially start using the e-mail and calendar functions, which can be extended to include web meetings and a chat function. The automated user management empowers the company to add new outlets and users with the corresponding access rights.
“It is essential to save costs and be innovative in the retail business,” said Ruud Stroet, Manager of ICT Development at PLUS. “To scale out, we offer our supermarkets self-supporting platforms that are always on and available from any location. Using the High Availability Add-On from Red Hat and Zarafa software allows us to use clever storage. As mobile communication is becoming increasingly important, we are glad that Zarafa is extending its communication platform and emphasizing mobile features.”
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About Zarafa
Zarafa is a leading European software company in open source groupware and collaboration software. The company, with headquarters in Delft, has 50 employees worldwide. The Zarafa offices in Germany, France, Brazil and India deal with local sales and offer support to hundreds of partners and thousands of customers worldwide. With the Zarafa Collaboration Platform (ZCP) email, calendar, tasks and contacts can be shared and managed in an Outlook or WebAccess environment. ZCP is the only groupware solution in the world that offers open source Active Sync compatibility. For more information: www.zarafa.com
About Red Hat, Inc.
Red Hat, the world's leading provider of open source solutions and an S&P 500 company, is headquartered in Raleigh, NC with more than 70 offices spanning the globe. Red Hat provides high-quality, affordable technology with its operating system platform, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, together with cloud, virtualization, management, storage and service-oriented architecture (SOA) solutions, including Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization and JBoss Enterprise Middleware. Red Hat also offers support, training and consulting services to its customers worldwide. Learn more: http://www.redhat.com.
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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.
