How to introduce Linux into the enterprise
Carl Weinschenk
Published: 09 Jul 2003 14:33 BST
With its connection to IBM, Linux has been making significant inroads into the enterprise. While there are still questions about its support infrastructure and other deployment issues, the feeling among CIOs is that Linux can be counted on in large-scale deployments, especially in applications that demand extremely fast number crunching. However, Linux proponents at the CIO level must be politically savvy (and technically skilled) when introducing Linux into the enterprise. The reality is that Linux -- and other open-source approaches -- operate under a microscope. The executives looking through the microscope in many cases will be non-technical CEOs or CFOs who are sceptical about trusting vital applications to the open-source model.
If open-source advocates are not prepared, that scepticism could become a problem. CIOs should remember that CFOs and CEOs don't care about operating systems, nor do they have an emotional investment in the open-source model. They care about reliability and cost. "The thing about evangelists is that they often get martyred and burned at the stake," said one high-level IT executive who wished to remain anonymous. Let's take a look at where Linux stands today and at the measures you can take to implement it if you feel your organisation could benefit.
Progress being made
Linux proponents are becoming less dogmatic in their approach to large-scale deployments as the technology and the business case around it become more intertwined, said Andrew Binstock, principal for Pacific Data Works LLC, a consultancy. "I would have to say it is very clear in that regard that the Linux community is maturing," he said. "There is truly less fervour than you used to hear. Now they are much more proponents than evangelists."
Much has changed, Binstock said, because of IBM's involvement with Linux. The benefits of Big Blue's vote of confidence are two-fold: it means that there is more support available and, perhaps more importantly, acceptance by the corporate giant helps shed the image of Linux as the work of computer nerds labouring in a garage. "The best thing to happen for Linux is IBM's strong embrace of it," he said. "IBM provides tremendous validation." Today, he said, crucial or mission-critical elements running on Linux include databases from IBM and Oracle; application servers from Sun, IBM, Oracle, and BEA; enterprise management software from Computer Associates, IBM, and BMC Software; and software development platforms from Borland.
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