Novell has extended its PartnerNet programme to include software and hardware partners.

The firm, best known for Netware but increasingly aggressive in the Linux space, will provide resources for independent software and hardware vendors (ISVs and IHVs).

The move will benefit commercial developers as well as those who want to embed or bundle Novell technologies into their products and extend the product options available to Novell resellers.

It also reinforces Novell's recent drive to attract developers as it looks to switch from being a declining proprietary infrastructure player to an open-source champion.

At its Brainshare Europe event in Barcelona last week, Novell chairman and chief executive, Jack Messman, said he wanted the company to be the "catalyst" for desktop linux.

ISVs and IHVs now join Novell's integrator, channel and training partners under the PartnerNet umbrella. Novell has 6,500 partners in 72 countries, including 200 'experts'.

Both groups will be given tools, training and introductory developer support. They will also be presented with various options for extended development support and co-marketing.

PartnerNet, which initially covered value-added resellers and solutions providers, has expanded over the last several years to encompass Novell's training partners, as well as firms like Dell, Hewlett Packard, SAP, Bearing Point, and Deloitte & Touche.

The expansion can only help resellers, Messman told vnunet.com. "By partnering ISPs we will enable their products to be more compatible with our products and allow our channel to sell them more easily," he said.

Chris Stone, vice chairman, office of the chief executive at Novell, told delegates: "It's incumbent on a company like Novell to make sure we, not the customer, deal with complexity. We can't do this without partners - lots of partners.

"By expanding PartnerNet to include ISVs and IHVs, we now have a great mechanism for getting the right partners - whether developers, systems integrators, hardware vendors or resellers - working together to deliver the best solution for our customers.

"The net effect is increased opportunities for Novell and for our partners, with better service for our customers."

Lee Chadwick, sales and marketing director at Woking-based service management and customer relationship management specialist Touchpaper, said: "We have found a tremendous amount of value in teaming up with other Novell partners around Europe, allowing us to leverage their technical and commercial knowledge."