Novell intros integrated toolkit to manage SW apps

BANGALORE, INDIA: Novell has announced the availability of a suite of new tools that reduces the time and cost for independent software vendors (ISVs) and enterprises to develop, deploy and manage software appliances.

With the availability of the SUSE Appliance Toolkit, Novell now delivers integrated solution for building, testing, updating and configuring software appliances across physical, virtual and cloud environments.

"Software appliances can significantly simplify integrating and managing the applications and solutions that customers need," said Dr. Bob Sutor, vice president, Open Source and Linux, IBM Software Group. "The SUSE Appliance Toolkit from Novell can potentially help our business partners deliver IBM software to their customers quickly, efficiently and cost effectively."

According to analyst firm IDC, $1.1 billion in revenue is expected to be spent on software appliances by 2012 worldwide.

"Software appliances are an ideal solution for organizations faced with delivering projects on schedule, managing diverse development teams, and securely developing and deploying applications across multiple hardware and software platforms," said Brett Waldman, research analyst, System Software at IDC.

"However, the creation, support and management of software appliances remain a mission-critical issue for ISVs and enterprises. Addressing the challenges of building, deploying and configuring enterprise software across widespread networks represents a significant opportunity for the software industry as a whole," added Waldman.

Engineered for ISVs and enterprises

For independent software vendors, the SUSE Appliance Toolkit is an essential part of the SUSE Appliance Program, a comprehensive program

that enables ISVs to build, update, configure and go-to-market with fully-supported software appliances.

With the SUSE Appliance Program and the SUSE Appliance Toolkit, ISVs can quickly deliver existing applications to physical, virtual and cloud computing environments, reduce sales cycles and pursue new market opportunities.

The SUSE Appliance Toolkit provides enterprises with an easy-to-use solution that brings the benefits of software appliances in-house yet maintains the integrity and security of their software applications and reduces the cost and complexity of managing deployed applications.

"Enterprises today are faced with managing numerous applications across distributed networks in heterogeneous environments," said Markus Rex, senior vice president and general manager of Open Platform Solutions at Novell.

Complete solution for building, deploying and managing appliances The SUSE Appliance Toolkit is a collection of tools designed to make building, testing, updating and configuring appliances fast and easy. Developers can choose to build their appliances on either SUSE Linux Enterprise or openSUSE).

The SUSE Appliance Toolkit includes:

- SUSE Studio Onsite, a local, behind the firewall version of the online appliance creation tool, SUSE Studio Online.

- WebYaST, a tool for enabling remote, Web-based configuration of the SUSE Linux Enterprise.

- SUSE Lifecycle Management Server, a tool for authentication, entitlement and access control that makes it easier to distribute software patches and updates.

- Support for KIWI, the image creation tool behind SUSE Studio. KIWI is a command line tool for creating appliances.