There are seven areas in which Microsoft is comparing Linux and Open Source
Software (OSS) with Windows and claiming advantages for Windows:
Security
Vulnerability
Patch Management
Availability and Distribution of Security Information
Performance and Reliability
Interoperability
Channel and Partner Opportunities
Distribution Fragmentation
Patents and Indemnification
Total Cost of Ownership
Staffing and Training
Support
Administration and Management
Go
here
to see an interesting analysis on some key problems with the
most recent Yankee Group TCO study.
Microsoft has been challenging the assertion that Linux and
OSS are free and offer a lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) than Windows.
They urge customers to look beyond Linux being "free" and evaluate it as
they would any other platform. The studies they released to support this
idea focus on three specific areas that they claim will disprove that notion
and will reveal hidden costs that drive the TCO up. The areas they cite are
Staffing and Training, Support costs, and Administration and Management
tools. Upon closer examination, however, we find that many of their claims
are false or misleading. Here's an article published in the IT Manager's
Journal Tracking the Evolution of IT that articulates the fundamental
superiority of Linux in reducing TCO.
Four out of four experts agree: Linux lowers TCO
Can a company count on Linux to lower the total cost of ownership (TCO) of
an enterprise system? Reaction to this question from CIOs and IT managers
usually goes something like: "Well, of course it saves money on the bottom
line. No sky-high enterprise licensing fees every year. No over-the-top
support subscription costs; you can maintain the code in-house. Way fewer
security and access issues, keeping the system down time low. No paying for
unnecessary bells and whistles in end-user software. No worrying about
mandatory upgrades every year and a half."
-- From IT Manager's Journal Tracking the Evolution of IT
We talked to independent analysts, developers, and IT
company executives. They all pretty much agree on one answer to the
question: Yes, generally there are fair to good TCO savings with Linux --
sometimes huge savings. But variables in every organization's mix will
determine exactly what that monthly, quarterly, or yearly savings will be.
According to this recent study from Cybersource, entitled
Linux vs. Windows: Total Cost of Ownership Comparison, for a company with
250 users, Linux solutions will cost between 27 percent and 36 percent less
than Microsoft's products over a three-year period. This comprehensive study
provides an analysis that utilizes costs based on hardware, software,
networking, staffing, consultancy fees, Internet access, desktop
productivity applications, training and miscellaneous system costs.
-- From Cybersource
Staffing and Training CLAIM: There is a scarcity of Linux expertise among IT
professionals, which will make staffing difficult and expensive.
FACTS:
The transition between Unix and Linux is fairly
straightforward, so Unix expertise in an IT staff will translate directly
into Linux expertise. And while Windows expertise is obviously more
available today than Linux or Unix expertise, companies need to be aware
that there will also be a training hit for Windows experts when it is time
to upgrade to Longhorn. In other words, any change will require training.
Here's an interesting analysis:
"Going from Win95 to Win98 was easy, they were similar
enough. Even the 98 to 2000 migration was fairly livable, the programs were
the pretty similar. Sure, things like AD caused some heartache, but it was
not unlivable.
Longhorn is very different from Windows, and upgrading will be a major pain.
Pain in this realm equates to dollars. Add in the scarcity of experienced
Longhorn admins, and you have more pain, and more money flow. Not good once
again.
Slightly related to people and differences is training. When you move to a
new paradigm, even if it was similar on the surface, can cause problems.
Again, the 95 to 98 move wasn't bad. 98 to XP with something as simple as a
new desktop brought major pain, confusion, and training costs to the
secretary set.
Longhorn is very different from 98, the problems will be worse yet. Chalk
another win up for Win. All of these issues, admin work, support, training,
and ease of upgrades will lessen over time as familiarity with this 'brand
new' OS creeps into the enterprise, but that is the future. For now, all the
people issues, unless your organization is staffed by IT workers who must be
ahead of the curve, will cost you a lot."
-- The devastating case for Windows against Linux is the devastating case
against Longhorn, by Charlie Demerjian: Monday 12 July 2004
For those who need to augment their expertise, Novell has
an industry-leading Linux certification program and a full Linux curriculum.
Novell certification courses are not limited to those
with previous Linux or even Unix experience. Corporations can utilize the
classes—which span the full spectrum of expertise—to get their staffs
trained. See a complete list of courses and certifications.
Novell is a leader in certification. According to a
report by Gartner ("Novell Services focuses on Identity Management and
Linux," June 2004.), "Novell invented the technical certification program in
the late 1980s with NetWare certifications. Today, Novell delivers 2.5
million hours of training to 80,000 customers and partners per year.
Novell's training services portfolio includes technical-skills assessment,
advanced technical training, custom training and curriculum development,
self-study, and certification and testing. It offers a training road map for
... SUSE LINUX. Novell has revamped its certification programs to make them
practicum-based and continues to broaden its reach with nearly 2,400
Certified Novell Instructors (CNIs). In addition to the traditional
Certified Novell Engineer (CNE), CNI and Master Certified Novell Engineer
(MCNE) certifications, Novell now offers certifications for Certified Linux
Engineer and SUSE-Certified Linux Professional. Companies should investigate
Novell training services to appraise their technical staffs' strengths and
weaknesses or establish Linux training and certification programs in their
organizations."
Novell has a number of different certification classes that corporations
can utilize to get their staff trained, including:
Linux Administration
Linux Fundamentals
Migrating to SUSE LINUX
SUSE LINUX Administration Custom On-site Training
Support
CLAIM: The distributed nature of the OSS
model diminishes its ability to respond to issues on a real-time basis.
FACTS:
Many companies, including Novell, make Linux support a
top priority. According to a report by Gartner ("Novell Services focuses on
Identity Management and Linux," June 2004) "Novell's 20-year history in
support services has yielded a well-developed set of offerings and support
operations infrastructure. The structure of its support Premium Service
offerings portfolio is a comprehensive six-tier model that provides the
widest-scaled set of support options in the industry. The tiers scale
according to factors such as tools and training, response time, number of
incidents, access to support resource expertise, account management and
dedicated resources. More significantly, the model Novell uses for coverage
is not per-product-license-fee-based but is based on a list of supported
products. Every tier of Premium Service support covers all the products on
the supported products list and for all instances of the product in the
customer's environment. This also is a unique approach in the support
industry, where the norm is a support fee based on the percentage of
software licenses."
In addition to the vast free resources that are in place
for Linux developers worldwide, Novell and other companies are bringing an
additional level of professional support to Linux, making it more attractive
to enterprises with an understandable aversion to risk. The mature,
experienced technical support organization at Novell provides
industry-leading 24 x 7 x 365 Linux support for businesses around the world.
This infrastructure gives CIOs the peace of mind that comes from knowing
Novell will be there to back them whenever problems occur. With more than
800 support personnel located in seven support centers covering every region
of the world, Novell can deliver unmatched levels of service on a global
scale. In addition, our support escalation procedures are designed to ensure
quick resolution and guaranteed response times.
Novell service contracts also allow customers to buy only as much technical
support as they need—and then integrate Linux support with their other
support needs. Our service professionals can help businesses evaluate the
overall service levels their systems require, then choose the service that
will best support their needs and objectives—regardless of size.
Peer-to-Peer Support
One of the great advantages to using open source code is
that it is infinitely customizable, and there is terrific peer-to-peer
support offered by other developers who are using the same code base. This
is a tremendous asset for the developers who work in a large organization to
create specific applications that are tailored to the needs of their
enterprise. The distributed nature of open source software provides an
increased opportunity to get support via three popular mechanisms: Mailing
Lists, Forums, and Wikis.
When developers encounter a problem, there are thousands of
mailing lists specific to sofware packages and Linux distributions that have
searchable databases full of solutions to problems people have had. If you
don't find it by searching, you can send out an email that will be received,
in most cases, by hundreds of other people who are using the same software
you are. Jason Jones, a Linux developer and early adopter, vouches for the
speed, reliability, and specificity of this kind of support when he says,
"The specific answers to my specific questions have usually come in less
than 10 minutes from more than 5 sources."
Through mailing lists, Linux developers usually have access
to the creator of the software package, who can provide more tailored
answers than any manual could ever have.
Forums provide the same quality of response, but are
conducted online. Wikis, a relatively new addition to the support offerings,
provide a mechanism for expertise to be distilled, improved, and constantly
updated via a robust searchable online interface. All of these resources
combine to offer a fast track to Linux expertise to anyone willing to ask
questions.
Administration and Management Tools
Manageability is a key factor in determining any system's total cost of
ownership. When it comes to installing, deploying, updating or securing
Linux servers, blades, desktops or laptops, the unique Novell resource
management solutions make it easy and cost-effective to manage these assets
throughout their entire lifecycle.
