South African open source solutions provider Obsidian has signed up as a consultancy partner and reseller of SUSE Linux enterprise server products and solutions.
This strengthens the company’s position in the enterprise environment where it has established a significant foothold as a provider of leading open source platforms and solutions. Obsidian has built this reputation on the back of almost 20 years as a dedicated provider of open source solutions from leading open source brands.
“We are all about open source software in the enterprise, so we are very excited about adding SUSE to the arsenal of solutions we can offer to our customer base,” says Muggie van Staden, Obsidian MD.
“We feel there is definitely a place for SUSE in the market and this agreement allows us to offer the SUSE solutions to existing customers, while also opening up new opportunities for us.”
These new opportunities are by virtue of SUSE’s solutions and track record in industry sectors into which Obsidian is keen to expand its influence. These are specifically in the retail space through SUSE Linux Enterprise Point-of-sale (SLEPOS) that is used widely in South Africa and is a sector in which the company has a strong customer base.
SUSE as a preferred platform for SAP is another area in which Van Staden sees scope for growth as it will address a market gap not filled by the other solutions it has offered to date.
“This is a great development for SUSE as Obsidian is a highly skilled organisation with a track record going back 18 years,” says Matthew Lee, regional manager of SUSE South Africa.
“SUSE strongly believes vendor supported open source technology is the best possible way to develop enterprise software and to service the growing customer base in terms of architecture, deployment and maintenance.”
Van Staden says that the latest addition to its range enterprise solutions will enable Obsidian to provide an even more complete service to customers, and hopefully further drive adoption of open source solutions in business critical applications.