"For the first time, I have started to see major enterprises asking us to push Linux from a typical border role to something more strategic and inside the network," says Benson Miller, a managing consultant at Logicalis, a Largo, Fla., solution provider and IBM partner that builds custom applications for clients in industries such as telecom.
Indeed, Gartner says more companies are using Linux to run business applications, databases and app servers, evolving beyond the single-purpose usage of the past, such as Web servers and security appliances.
That said, Linux isn't for everything and it isn't going to bump Microsoft off its perch anytime soon. But for ISVs and integrators, it is emerging as a platform not to be ignored. Some things to consider as you move down this road: As an ISV, it is far easier to port to Linux from a basic C or C++ or Java code base than from Visual Studio, Visual Basic, C# or .Net. So if you are considering a new app from scratch, choosing from cross-platform tools in terms of your development strategy leaves the Linux option wide open. As a solution provider, Linux should be viewed as more than a Microsoft alternative. In fact, the biggest opportunity abounds in migrating Unix to Linux, an attractive proposition for customers seeking hardware savings and overall consolidation. The Linux code base shares many similarities with Unix, making the migration easier, and partners can take their customers off expensive Unix hardware and onto Intel.
Other things to think about: Decide the distribution you will support, Red Hat or Novell SuSE, by carefully examining their support services, certification programs, channel models and technical capabilities. Red Hat's certification programs are being heralded as iron-clad as Cisco's vaunted program, for example--a big plus for VARs. Novell is still working out its training plan for SuSE Linux as it begins absorbing the new company and its channel partners. Last, be aware that the specter of legal action by SCO, which is claiming patent rights to the Linux source code, may render some customers skittish. That's why Novell has taken the extraordinary step of promising to pick up the legal tab if its customers or partners get zapped.
All things considered, many ISVs are taking the leap. Take a company called GroupLink, which develops customer contact- solutions software. GroupLink had been a Windows-only proposition until a year ago when it started to explore Linux. Its customers wanted better TCO, and GroupLink CEO Dave Turner saw open source as a way to kill two birds with one stone by placating customers and expanding his own market reach. What tipped the scales was Novell's launch into the market.
"Honestly, if it weren't for a company like Novell coming into this and taking responsibility for managing the underlying network services, there would still be a big question about Linux in the marketplace," says Turner, adding that IBM can also be thanked for creating mindshare.
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