Moscow February 11, 2009

Programmers refuse to create Russian Operating System at the Government's Bidding

Ministry of Communications and Mass Communications and the Russian IT-association has rejected a proposal to pass all development work on Open Source Software to state corporations. This will prevent market limitations in Russia and abroad. Integration into the global development process is obligatory.

A proposal to pass all development work on Open Source Software to state corporations was rejected by representatives of the Ministry of Communications and Mass Communications and Russian IT-association

This is the result of the round-table discussion on IT-security which was held in Moscow on the 11th February. "It's unacceptable that the authors of the idea consider the Federal Public Procurement Law to be the main obstacle to Russian IT-development" – Oleg Chutov, the head of the Department of Scientific and Strategic Development, admitted in his summary of the discussion.

"The Governments of China and Brazil made efforts to control the process of Open Source software development, i.e. to create closed operating systems. This approach just led them to a dead end" – stressed Milan Prohaska, the CEO of the software distributing company VDEL. "The idea of creating an exclusive Russian information system (to be developed in Russia and for Russian users only) is, in essence, an attempt to build an "information ghetto" for Russian programmers, to limit them both at home and foreign markets".

Dmitry Efanov, the representative of The All-Russian Research Institute of Control Automation in the Non-Industrial Sphere (VNIINS), states that integration into the global development process is obligatory in order to create a real operating system in Russia. Ilya Massuh, advisor to the Ministry of Communications and Mass Communications, underlined the necessity to found a Russian Software Developers Association.

The participants at the round-table meeting also reminded the Ministry representatives of their intention to establish national Open Source Software centers of competence , ITAR-TASS reports.

Vienna, Austria February 9, 2009

Russian Federation Commits to Open Source

Open source software development in Russia is one of the most important directives for Igor Schegolev - the Head of the Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications of the Russian Federation. At a key meeting with Werner Knoblich, Red Hat Vice President for EMEA, he announced support for a Russian Fedora association and for Red Hat development in the Russian Federation. He also expressed support for open source infrastructure and applications, and the development of a repository for industry best practice.

Open source software development in Russia is one of the most important directives for Igor Schegolev - the Head of the Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications of the Russian Federation.

On February 5, 2009 Igor Schegolev, the Head of the Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications of the Russian Federation, met with Werner Knoblich, Red Hat Vice President for EMEA at the Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications of the Russian Federation, and other industry leaders.

At the meeting many questions regarding open source software market development and the use of open source software with existing systems were discussed. The Ministry is supporting Red Hat's initiative to create a Russian association of Fedora developers. Through this association, Russia has become one of the countries, including the USA and India, which participate and influence the development of the world's most successful Linux project - Red Hat.

"Software development is moving so fast, that it would be impossible to take an available open source product from abroad, re compile it and name it "Russian windows"- because the moment it would be launched it would be already obsolete. The formation of a Russian association of Russian Fedora developers (www.RussianFedora.com) who will be working in Russia is the basis for the creation of a national operating system," - the Minister says. "We think that the intellectual potential of Russian specialists would allow us not just to build but also to develop the code," - Igor Schegolev said.

The Ministry moved beyond the limits of operating systems to further open source software market development and use. "We should pay attention to database management systems, portals, mail systems based on open source software, without it the practical use of such software would be too narrow," - Schegolev said.

For this purpose the Ministry is ready to support working in co-operation with Red Hat. It would also be sensible to consider the creation of an information resource to gather together "best practice" in the use and adoption of open source software.

Milan Prohaska, director of VDEL - the Red Hat Master distributor for Russia and Eastern Europe, who was present at the meeting stated afterwards: 'We believe that the creation of a best practice competence center is the most logical next step in wider adoption of Open Source in Russia."

"Both Red Hat and VDEL, the organizers of Russian Fedora projects, will provide this center with financial and technological support and also help to build the wider local and international IT industry network needed for this Ministry initiative".

November 9, 2008

Software United: VDEL Unleashes the Full Power of IBM Software on the Desktop

VDEL is proud to launch SoftwareUnited - a program aimed at providing a Microsoft-free platform for complete solutions by Independent Software Vendors (ISV), including IBM and Red Hat products.

VDEL created the SoftwareUnited program, based on IBM and Red Hat OEM programs, which for the first time delivers to ISVs a complete Microsoft-free platform for their applications. The driving force behind the program is DesktopUnited - a platform that includes Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), IBM software and VDEL applications, part of a global partnership delivering Microsoft-free desktop solutions.

Speaking from the launch and conference in Cyprus, Milan Prohaska, VDEL said, "With Vista up in smoke and Microsoft promising even a more cloudy future, almost everybody realizes it is time to change old habits and move to better desktop solutions. That is why more and more people are moving quickly to IBM Software on Linux"

"Choosing platforms such as DesktopUnited provides a more secure, open and functional desktop solution at less then half the cost of the equivalent Microsoft offering. Especially in these challenging times, it will be hard for any responsible IT manager not to at least consider such alternatives."

The first product on the DesktopUnited platform is VDEL's OpenReferent solution - a Lotus Notes and Symphony package that sits on top of RHEL - which has caused a great demand in Eastern Europe, especially with local administrations looking for secure, cost effective solutions.

'Once we realized what impressive functional benefits and enormous cost savings are provided by OpenReferent - and that it is based on IBM Lotus Notes and Red Hat Enterprise Linux, we decided to immediately start a project of revamping the entire software infrastructure in the municipality, and not only the desktops" said Mr.Constantin Zuyev, vice governor of Tver region, Russia.' We will continue to move our IT to IBM Software on Open Source in future as well since we realize the immense benefits of such platform'.

On the server side, SoftwareUnited is offering ServeUnited - Platform for Servers based on Linux and including IBM software. ServeUnited provides all required subscriptions and licenses that customers need, as well as technical support by phone or the Internet.

VDEL guarantees customers of DesktopUnited and ServeUnited that all the required licenses and subscriptions are included, plus telephone, 30 days installation support and Web support for the duration of the subscription. It reassures customers that the ISV application is part of a great price / performance solution. In addition, with all this is place, ISVs are free to concentrate on pitching their own solutions and competing in the fragmented market.

"Customers will clearly benefit from an open-standards based alternative to the desktop environment. VDEL's new initiative, based on IBM Open Collaboration Client Solution and Linux provides them with a proven way to reduce costs and break their dependency on a single vendor," said Inna Kuznetsova, Director, IBM Linux Strategy.

IBM and Red Hat have provided special contracts to VDEL for use with the SoftwareUnited program, enabling added choice in the desktop market.

On top of collaborating with VDEL on its new multilingual support center this year with special focus on desktop needs, Red Hat will also sponsor The Fedora Project for Eastern Europe to expand the local open source community.

"We're excited to offer added choice to customers in the desktop market through our collaboration on the Software United program with VDEL and IBM," said Werner Knoblich, vice president of the EMEA region at Red Hat. "The combination of IBM solutions on Red Hat Enterprise Linux will offer an affordable high-performance solution to customers looking for a reliable proprietary alternative for the desktop."

The initial focus of SoftwareUnited will be to recruit high quality ISVs as soon as possible in order to provide an offering for every vertical industry. By signing up to SoftwareUnited, ISVs will receive full development kits from VDEL that will enable them to develop applications based on the VDEL software bundle including IBM Software such as Lotus, Tivoli, Informix, and DB2 on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).

SoftwareUnited will certify these applications and use the existing channel to promote these applications throughout the world. Supported IBM products include a range of Tivoli security, compliance and systems management software, database and data server offerings as well as Lotus Notes and Lotus Symphony.

August 6, 2008

IBM Joins Linux Distributors In Attacking Microsoft Windows, Office

via InformationWeek

At LinuxWorld, IBM threw its support behind Microsoft-free PCs for business and introduced a package of open source software for Linux-based supercomputers.

IBM put its industry muscle behind Linux distributors Canonical, Novell , and Red Hat in building Microsoft -free PCs for business.

Also at the LinuxWorld conference in San Francisco, IBM announced its first certified package of open source software for Linux-based supercomputers.

In the Microsoft-related announcement, IBM and its partners said there's market demand for less expensive PCs than those that ship with the Windows operating system and Microsoft's Office suite of applications. The four companies see Vista, the latest version of Windows, as opening the door for OS rivals.

Among the complaints of Vista is that it requires more powerful computers than those running XP, the previous version of Windows. As a result, many businesses have delayed upgrading to Vista until the end of their hardware life cycle.

IBM said this gives it and the Linux distributors the opportunity to work with hardware partners to offer PCs preloaded with Linux and IBM's Open Collaboration Client Solution, which includes Lotus Notes, Lotus Symphony, and Lotus Sametime.

Notes is IBM's client for accessing e-mail, calendars, and other applications running on the tech company's Lotus Domino server. Symphony is IBM's office suite, which was released free of charge in 2007; Sametime is IBM's instant messaging and Web conferencing application.

As envisioned by the four companies, local IT firms in markets around the world would place their own brands on the final hardware, offer additional software tailored to a specific market segment, such as banking or government, and provide installation services. In addition, customers, independent software vendors, and systems integrators can develop client applications using Lotus Expeditor, development tools based on the open source Eclipse programming model.

Vdel, an Austrian IT firm, debuted the IBM-led group's Microsoft alternative in Eastern Europe this year, the companies said. Called OpenReferent, the hardware included software such as IBM's Open Collaboration Client and Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

The reception of the new product has been particularly strong in the Russian market, where the desktops have been piloted and phased in by the Russian postal service and the Rushotel Hotel in Moscow, according to IBM. Vdel claims the new desktops cost 30% to 35% less than a Microsoft-based equivalent.

Besides Vdel, IT distributor Avnet in the United Kingdom has started offering similar desktops running SUSE Linux Enterprise from Novell, the companies said.

Canonical, which sells subscription support for Ubuntu Linux, will re-distribute Lotus Symphony through its Web site by the end of August.

The latest offering from IBM and its partners is a reflection of the reception Vista has gotten among businesses. The OS has been poorly received by IT managers, many of whom view it as too large and resource hungry, and too desktop-centric, for an era in which much of business computing is migrating to the Web.

With an understanding of the shortcomings of Windows, Microsoft is reportedly developing a new OS designed from the ground up to support Internet-based computing and multi-core architectures. The new OS, which currently goes by the development name Midori, could one day replace the company's Windows franchise.

Meanwhile, IBM said its first certified package of open-source software for Linux-based high-performance computing, called the HPC Open Software Stack, would be initially available on IBM Power6 processors.

The stack, which has been integrated and tested by IBM, is meant to "ease deployment" of supercomputers comprised of many servers linked together in a cluster. The software is also useful in developing and executing applications and in managing and monitoring a system.

"As more and more computing tasks migrate to supercomputer style clusters, there is a need for software that can effectively utilize and manage the large number of processors found in these systems," Dave Turek, VP of Deep Computing for IBM, said in a statement.

The HPC stack is available through an online software repository hosted by the University of Illinois' National Center for Supercomputing Applications.

16th May 2008

Celebrating 15 years of VDEL! A great thanks to all our staff, partners and most especially our customers for helping us grow from a small sales force automation consultancy to become the leading Open Source value added distributor in the EMEA.

23rd April 2008

Red Hat (NYSE: RHT), the world’s leading provider of open source solutions, today announced the recognition of five Red Hat EMEA partners through awards presented at the Red Hat EMEA Partner Summit, which took place April 2-4, 2008 in Malaga, Spain. Altkom, OpenNet, Essi Projects, Redpill and VDEL were recognized for their dedication to the growth and development of Red Hat’s business and partnerships throughout EMEA.

VDEL was declared Distributor of the Year

“We’re very proud that VDEL been selected as the Red Hat Distributor of the Year in EMEA. This honor shows the level of importance that Red Hat, our partners, our customers and all VDEL employees have placed on teamwork,” said Milan Prohaska, director of Business Development at VDEL. “I personally am proud have a part in such a successful team that has brought such impressive growth to Red Hat in Central and Eastern Europe.”

4th March 2008

IBM Offers Microsoft-free PCs in Eastern Europe - via Reuters

IBM has teamed up with partners in Austria and Poland to offer Microsoft-free personal computers for the eastern European market, IBM said in a statement on Tuesday.

International Business Machines Corp said it was offering the PCs based on the open-source Linux operating system together with Red Hat software distributor VDEL of Austria and Polish distributor and services firm LX Polska in response to demand from Russian IT chiefs.

The PCs will include IBM's Lotus Symphony software based on the Open Document Format, a rival format to Microsoft's Office Open XML document format, which the latter is trying to get adopted as an ISO internationally approved standard.

IBM, which has sold its PC business to China's Lenovo, said the hardware would be made by partners of VDEL and LX Polska.

Russia, where many large corporations and public-service bodies are building large computer systems for the first time, is emerging as a key battleground between Microsoft and rivals offering open-source alternatives.

Microsoft is active in IT education campaigns in Russia and last month signed a deal with MTS, Russia's largest mobile phone operator, to offer services and cut-price laptops installed with its Vista operating system for small businesses.

IBM said the Linux PC line it would offer with VDEL and LX Polska, called Open Referent, would cut desktop computing costs for buyers by up to half.

It said chief information officers from Russian organizations including the Ministry of Defence, airline Aeroflot and private bank Alfa Bank had been among those who had requested an open-source PC.

Sept 10, 2007

SAP, Red Hat and VDEL to Offer Secure Solutions for Government Sector in Russia

Red Hat, the world's leading provider of open source solutions, SAP, the world's leading provider of business software, and VDEL, Red Hat's master distributor in Central and Eastern Europe, announce that they have reached an agreement to offer joint solutions for the government sector in Russia that comply with the security standards of the Russian government.

As a part of the contract, SAP will offer ERP customer solutions based on the Red Hat platform. Red Hat Enterprise Linux is currently the only Server and Workstation platform that has achieved government security certification OUD4+/NDV4, similar to the Common Criteria certification, in Russia.

VDEL and Red Hat will offer a migration path to a secure platform utilizing local business partners and a special 'upgrade' offer for existing SAP users.

"In the view of the increasing expansion of open source standards in Russia, SAP CIS is extremely interested in installing its ERP solutions on the basis of the world's open source solutions leaders, such as Red Hat," said Jovan Marjanovic, managing director, SAP CIS.

"The high level of security built into Red Hat Enterprise Linux is one of the many reasons that government departments with high security requirements choose Red Hat Enterprise Linux as a basis for their IT infrastructure," said Werner Knoblich, Vice President and General Manager for EMEA, Red Hat. "With this recent certification, Red Hat can more effectively assist customers to confidently deploy and run their SAP applications for which VDEL provides local support."

"Security of data has long been a critical requirement for government institutions. In the increasingly competitive and regulated commercial sector it is also a priority for organizations," said Milan Prohaska, managing director, VDEL. "Working together, we are offering to our common customers a solution that has achieved security certification by governments in Russia, the United States and other jurisdictions."