HSBC has joined a number of global firms, including Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse, in taking advantage of the recent collaboration between the two technology firms. Under the agreement, Microsoft will deliver to HSBC certificates for three-year priority support subscriptions to SUSE Linux Enterprise Server from Novell, as HSBC moves to standardise its Linux deployments on one distribution. By reducing the diversity of its Linux environment, HSBC says it hopes to reduce its total cost of ownership (TCO) for Linux, and improve interoperability with its existing Microsoft Windows infrastructure.

"The Microsoft-Novell agreement is a great catalyst to helping us reduce the complexity of our Linux environment as we standardise our Linux infrastructure with Suse Linux Enterprise and continue to extend the use of Microsoft Active Directory(R)," says Matthew O'Neill, group head of Distributed Systems for HSBC Global IT Operations. "Some will be surprised to learn that our Windows environment has a lower total cost of ownership than our current Linux environment. Our decision to simplify our mixed-source environment with Microsoft and Novell will allow us to reduce the cost and complexity. That's why we have selected Novell as our preferred Linux partner to support our Linux infrastructure going forward."

Roger Levy, vice president and general manager of Open Platform Solutions for Novell, is joining HSBC's Open Source Software Committee as a nonvoting advisor. "The ability of HSBC to reduce complexity, simplify support and increase its IT agility is a testament to the mission of Novell's agreement with Microsoft - to help customers win," he says. "Novell is pleased to become HSBC's trusted Linux partner, and standardising Linux on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server will give the company a rock-solid foundation that will seamlessly interact with its Windows environment."

"Our customers tell us that they want technology vendors to work better together - that's what our agreement with Novell is all about," says Susan Hauser, general manager of strategic partnerships and licensing at Microsoft. "Founded on intellectual property assurance, our interoperability efforts are helping HSBC apply best practices from its Windows infrastructure to lower TCO for its Linux environment."