The capstone certification reinforces Linux’s move into the mainstream and wider enterprise adoption

SYDNEY – 1 December 2005 – Red Hat (NASDAQ: RHAT), the world's leading provider of open source to the enterprise, today announced it is now offering Red Hat Architect (RHCA) exams in Australia. This follows hot on the heels of the news that five of Samsung SDS’ staff have earned the world’s first RHCA qualification. The certifications at Samsung SDS Korea reinforces Linux’s rapid move into the mainstream of technology, and its wider adoption amongst enterprises worldwide.

The training for Samsung SDS was delivered by Sydney-based instructor Ben Wu. “The world-wide commitment demonstrated by Red Hat’s Global Learning Services team to certify Samsung SDS’ as RHCAs mirrors our efforts undertaken to sell Linux as a strategic business asset and to attain the highest level of professionalism and customer satisfaction. We’re additionally pleased that our Australian trainers have played such a key role in helping Samsung SDS to achieve this landmark achievement,” said Peter Durie, Services Manager, Red Hat Australia and New Zealand.

On his team’s achievement Paul Sung, Engineering Manager, Emerging Technology Department, IT R&D Centre of Samsung SDS said, “We are indeed proud to have the world’s first RHCA amongst our staff and kudos to the entire Samsung SDS and Red Hat teams who have worked so hard to attain this significant achievement. We are Korea’s top IT services provider, and have to constantly be at the forefront of technologies and IT systems, or risk losing out. Linux is one of these forefront technologies and we see its huge potential in gaining wide-spread adoption amongst enterprises big and small.”

Red Hat Training has been around for six years now and can boast 17,000 Red Hat Certified Engineers (RHCE), 10,000 Red Hat Certified Technicians (RHCT), and more than 200,000 students in total. Red Hat certified IT professionals have risen sharply in the recent years, having reached a total of more than 27,000 to date.

In Australia, Red Hat has been offering selected subjects of the RHCA program in 2005. All subjects will be offered in 2006, with the class schedule and exam dates currently being finalised. Red Hat expects classes to be held throughout the country.

“We’re seeing a lot of interest in the RHCA training and have had great attendance at the classes we’ve held during 2005. A lot of people have seen their careers thrive thanks to RHCE training and they are looking towards RHCA training to help them take the next step up,” said Durie.

Launched in 2004, the RHCA course provides in-depth, hands-on training for senior Linux system administrators responsible for the deployment and management of many systems in large enterprise environments. RHCA is a capstone certification RHCE and RHCT, and is the most recognised, acclaimed, and mature certification in the Linux space. For more information, please visit: http://www.apac.redhat.com/training/

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About Red Hat, Inc. Red Hat, the world's leading open source and Linux provider, is headquartered in Raleigh, NC with satellite offices spanning the globe. Red Hat is leading Linux and open source solutions into the mainstream by making high quality, low cost technology accessible. Red Hat provides operating system software along with middleware, applications and management solutions. Red Hat also offers support, training and consulting services to its customers worldwide and through top-tier partnerships. Red Hat's open source strategy offers customers a long term plan for building infrastructures that are based on and leverage open source technologies with focus on security and ease of management. Learn more: http://www.redhat.com

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For more information: Angela Eggleton Text 100 P: 61 2 9956 5733 E: angela.eggleton@text100.com.au