Likewise Software announced that it has been named as category award-winning finalist in the second annual Red Hat Innovation Awards. Red Hat selected six finalists in the second annual Red Hat Innovation Awards, designed to recognize the outstanding use, innovation and extension of Red Hat solutions by customers, partners and the open source community. One Red Hat Innovator of the Year will be selected from the six finalists during the Red Hat Summit, taking place June 18-20, 2008 at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, Mass. 

Online voting for the Red Hat Innovator of the Year will take place June 16-19, 2008 at http://www.redhat.com/promo/summit/2008/innovate/ .

Likewise was selected as the finalist in the Enhanced Security category as a result of its effective use of Red Hat solutions to heighten the security of IT systems. The company is being recognized for Likewise Open, which is an open source, enterprise-class solution to address the authentication needs of organizations with mixed networks. Likewise Open provides fast and easy authentication for Red Hat users into networks utilizing Microsoft's Active Directory domains.

"It is an honor to be recognized by one of the pioneers and leaders in the open source industry, and to be among the finalists for the Innovator of the Year Award," said Barry Crist, CEO of Likewise Software. "We appreciate the recognition that Red Hat is giving to all those in the industry who are working to forge new ground in open source enterprise computing. The award is a compliment to the talented group of people that continue to work hard to make Likewise a huge success."

Likewise has also been selected to join the Red Hat Exchange (RHX), which is Red Hat's program for open source software vendors. The program is focused on creating a rising tide for the broader open source ecosystem, and is focused on leveraging community-driven development and frictionless distribution to extend the ecosystem. RHX was introduced at the 2007 Red Hat Summit. You can find Likewise in the RHX at http://rhx.redhat.com starting on Wednesday, June 18, 2008.

Crist added, "We look forward to being an active participant in RHX, and to the opportunities to collaborate on new projects and technologies with Red Hat and other leaders in the open source community."

As winner of the enhanced security category, Likewise will be recognized at an award ceremony in the Summit general session, and have the opportunity to participate in a presentation at the Summit, as well as attend a VIP Executive dinner with the summit's keynote speakers.

Judging for the category awards was completed by a panel of select Red Hat executives and the technology analyst and journalist communities. Judges looked at a variety of criteria in determining the individual winners, including creative or innovative ways of using Red Hat technology, technology challenges overcome to achieve goals, and identifiable improvements to the business. The overall Innovator of the Year will be chosen by online vote by the open source community and will be announced during the Summit awards ceremony on June 20.