Novell signs SmartBuy deal

It's the first networking infrastructure vendor to sign an enterprise licensing agreement under the SmartBuy program.

CIO Council's SmartBuy page

Novell Inc. officials have signed an enterprise licensing agreement under the General Services Administration's SmartBuy program, becoming the first networking infrastructure vendor to do so.

Novell officials said today that the company has created a set of software offerings and services especially for the program. The special packages include product and service bundles for infrastructure, Linux servers, desktop computers and Web services. One for secure identity management is in the works, officials said.

SmartBuy, launched last year, is an effort to harness the buying power of multiple government agencies for software that is widely used across government.

"The federal government has always been a strong customer of Novell, and we hope our participation in SmartBuy will strengthen the relationship even more," said Alan Kraft, vice president for federal government solutions for Novell, in a statement. "With the new SmartBuy software bundles we're offering, federal agencies can address tough [information technology] challenges around infrastructure, open source, security and data integration with integrated, yet flexible, solutions at an attractive price point."