Cost Cutters Look to Desktop Linux
Cost reduction cited as primary reason by 71 percent of IT pros; 35 percent said ease of securing desktop while 32 percent indicated lower overhead associated with maintenance and support.
By Cecilia Galvinalvin
Everyone has clients who want to save money, especially now. And Linux on the desktop, according to a May 2009 study by analyst firm Freeform Dynamics, is one easy way to help them do so-if you target the right users.
The independent survey, sponsored by IBM, polled 1,275 IT pros around the globe-90 percent of whom had direct experience with desktop Linux deployments-and found that Linux desktops were easier to deploy than expected if they were targeted to nontechnical employees who use email and office tools predictably and moderately. Employees who handle transactions and general professional workers were more than twice as likely to be primary targets for Linux than mobile or creative staff.
“Some users care a great deal about their desktop computing environment and may be emotionally or practically wedded to Windows,” says Dale Vile, research director, Freeform Dynamics. “The trick is to avoid getting distracted by these, and focus on the users for whom the PC on their desk is simply a tool to get their job done. Migrating a general professional user who only needs to access a couple of central systems, an email inbox, and light word processing is pretty straightforward.”
About twice as many respondents cited cost savings over security as the primary driver for adopting Linux on the desktop. Respondents also indicated that both Linux and Windows environments can be secured adequately, but that it’s less expensive to secure a Linux desktop and maintain it that way.
“If a company is a ‘Windows shop,’ at some point it will need to evaluate the significant costs of migrating its base to Microsoft’s next desktop and continuing the defense against virus and other attacks,” says Bob Sutor, vice president of Linux and open source, IBM Software Group. “Savvy IT departments see the Linux desktop as a PC investment that actually saves money during this downturn. We see the recession fueling open source on the desktop.”
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