Open-source operating system Linux has a higher total
cost of ownership than Windows, according to research from analyst
firm Yankee Group.
Yankee Group said for the vast majority of businesses, especially
those where Windows is pervasive, Linux software is more expensive
to run.
The research, based on responses from 1,000 IT administrators and
executives across the globe, was paid for by software firm Sunbelt,
a provider of implementation tools for Windows. It found that, for
large businesses, a significant Linux deployment or total switch
from Windows to Linux would be three to four times more expensive
and take three times as long to deploy compared to a Windows
upgrade.
All of the main Linux distributors, including Novell, Red Hat,
Hewlett-Packard and IBM, have begun charging "hefty premiums for
must-have items like technical service and support, product
warranties and licensing indemnification", the report said.
"Linux is not free - a fact that most corporations are now
beginning to realise," said Yankee Group analyst and report author
Laura DiDio. And despite its many benefits, Linux is not
technically superior to current Windows products, she said.
"Corporate customers report that Linux does indeed provide
businesses with excellent performance, reliability, ease of use and
security," DiDio said. "Hype notwithstanding, Linux's technical
merits, although first-rate, are equivalent but not superior to
Unix and Windows Server 2003."
The benefits of Linux are clearer for small organisations, DiDio
said, and added that Linux can be used as a negotiating tool, as
Newham Council did in its discussions with Microsoft earlier this
year.
"There is a clear bifurcation between the high and low ends of the
market," she said. "Everyone has a Linux strategy, even if it is
just to use Linux as a stone to throw at Microsoft."
Many companies are looking at their operating system strategies in
the light of the rise of Linux, but most will stick with Windows
for the time being, the report said.
Graham Taylor, director of Open Forum Europe, said companies should
use return on investment as their key metric when considering
Linux, rather than total cost of ownership. "[The report] flies in
the face of everything we have been looking at. The outlook is
changing dramatically - Linux on the desktop is going to motor this
year," he said.
The Linux versus Windows battle
- Over the next two years, enterprises will spend as much
securing their Linux systems as they do on Windows systems
- Most firms would migrate "a portion" of their Windows servers
to Linux for specialised applications
- Just 4% of Unix and 11% of Windows users plan to replace
existing systems with Linux
- Fewer than 5% said they would switch desktops to Linux from
Windows
- 30% said Linux was more reliable; 31% found it more secure; and
29% feared being locked into an all-Microsoft environment
- Most large firms will not install Linux as a front-line
operating system because it costs between 25% and 50% more in
technology support specialists than Windows
- Most of those switching to Linux are coming not from Windows
but from other flavours of Unix.
Source: Yankee Group