Red Hat (Nasdaq:RHAT), the leader in developing, deploying and managing open source Internet infrastructure solutions, today named Dr. James Neiser chief marketing officer. A six-year veteran of IBM (NYSE: IBM), 49-year-old Neiser brings nearly 20 years of experience in marketing, branding and promoting software solutions.
" James brings to Red Hat a strong understanding of technology markets, developing global brands and servicing global distribution channels. It is a real coup to have someone with his experience join our rapidly growing company," said Matthew Szulik, president and CEO of Red Hat. "The entire management team is looking forward to working with James as the Red Hat Network grows to leverage Red Hat's lead as the top provider of open source solutions spanning Internet infrastructure all the way to next-generation embedded and Web devices."
Prior to Red Hat, Dr. Neiser held a variety of executive positions at IBM. Most recently, he was the vice president of worldwide distribution channel and customer set (small and medium businesses) marketing. In that capacity, he was responsible for working across IBM Software Group, Lotus and Tivoli, toward the integration and development of a common set of programmes for all channel partner types and programmes targeted at mid-market customers. Prior to this, Dr. Neiser served as VP of Marketing for the Network Computing Software Division and VP of Marketing for the Networking Software Business Unit. Within IBM, responsibilities have included strategy, product management, brand marketing and go-to-market programmes and execution for a wide variety of different offerings. These offerings include security, directory, host integration solutions, communications, Java, wireless and Internet applications and Web sites.
" In just a short time Red Hat has generated tremendous leadership momentum," said Neiser.
" I'm looking forward to helping the company continue to revolutionise the software industry and communicate and execute on a powerful vision that delivers the benefits of open source and the Red Hat Network to users worldwide.? "
Prior to IBM, Neiser held marketing and management positions with a variety of software and packaged goods companies, including Ashton-Tate and Carnation. Neiser has a Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology from Oklahoma State University specialising in memory and information processing.
Open Source Momentum
International Data Corp. (IDC) research states that paid Linux shipments grew faster than any other server operating system over the past two years, and their preliminary figures for 1999 show Linux shipments hold 24.6 percent of the server operating system market, up from 15.8 in 1998. IDC also states that Red Hat holds 50.2 percent of Linux vendor market share and that Red Hat Linux is by far the most popular distribution, preferred by 68.7 percent of U.S. Linux users.
Research firm Netcraft, Inc. http://www.netcraft.com, states that as of May 2000, 30 percent of all public Web sites run on Linux-based operating systems, making Linux the most popular choice for deploying public Web sites. IDC research shows 40
percent of all spending on Linux servers is for Internet related applications, firmly entrenching Linux servers in the Internet infrastructure.
Finally, IDC predicts that by 2002, there will be more than 55 million handheld and notebook-style information appliance devices and that by 2005, shipments of these appliances will exceed shipments of PCs.
Red Hat's numerous alliances with industry leaders and the demand for Linux-based applications has created open source support from many of the industry's leading software and hardware manufacturers, including Dell, Compaq, Computer Associates, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel, Netscape, Novell, Oracle and SAP.
About Red Hat
Founded in 1994, Red Hat (Nasdaq:RHAT), is the leader in development, deployment and management of Linux and open source solutions for Internet infrastructure ranging from small embedded devices to high availability clusters and secure Web servers. In addition to the award-winning Red Hat Linux server operating system, Red Hat is the principal provider of GNU-based developer tools and support solutions for a wide variety of embedded processors. Red Hat provides run-time solutions, developer tools, Linux kernel expertise and offers support and engineering services to organisations in all embedded and Linux markets.
Red Hat applies its technological leadership to create open source solutions for all points on the Internet and in pervasive computing environments, offers services backed by the best understanding of open source and the most comprehensive resources, and delivers the brand of a widely trusted open source leader and corporate partner. Red Hat offers users one single, trusted point of contact and a common platform for developing, deploying and managing open source across the Internet and devices that connect to the Internet.
Red Hat Europe was established in July 1999 with its European
headquarters based in Surrey, United Kingdom and offices throughout
Europe. Red Hat Linux is sold and supported through a number of major
distribution and industry partners throughout Europe and from
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Red Hat Linux was named InfoWorld's Product of the Year for four years
in a row, was given a productivity accolade in Software
Development's Jolt Awards, was named an environment/desktop finalist in
the Ziff-Davis European Excellence Awards, won the editor's
choice awards from the Linux Journal and Australian Personal Computing
magazines, and won the `Just Plain Cool' award from Australian
Personal Computing magazine. At March's LinuxWorld Expo, more than 8,000
members of the Linux community voted Red Hat a
`LinuxWorld Favourite'. Red Hat Linux recently won a Product Excellence
award from Software Development Magazine.
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LINUX is a trademark of Linus Torvalds. RED HAT is a registered trademark of Red Hat, Inc. All other names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
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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
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