Enterprises have finally begun to adopt Linux and market researchers have forecasted its growth. So Veritas Software has devised a strategy to tap market potential for storage management software on the Linux platform. It has launched new products for Linux, is working with key partners like Dell, HP, IBM, Intel and Red Hat, and will offer strong support for its Linux-based products.

"We are coming out with an entire range of solutions on Linux and the support and availability of these solutions will be as good as any other platform," said Agendra Kumar, Country Manager, Veritas Software.

Though Veritas is initially supporting Red Hat Linux Advanced Server, it may eventually support other Linux distributions.

Kumar said many organizations are considering Linux as their main operating environment and expect support on par with operating systems like Solaris, HP-UX etc. The predictions by market researchers on the growth of Linux, is another reason for Veritas' commitment to this platform.

Giga Information Group predicts the Linux server market will grow from $2.5 billion in 2002 to $15 billion by 2007. Gartner predicts that by 2003, 90 percent of all IS organizations will use open source software and IDC says the Linux server market share is growing at 30.1 percent annually.

Veritas Cluster Server, a clustering software solution, and Veritas ServPoint NAS software are now available on the Linux platform. Previously, Veritas had released its NetBackup and Foundation Suite software for Linux. In Q2 2003, Veritas will launch Database Edition for Oracle 9i (a high availability solution) and SANPoint control for storage management.

Veritas storage solutions will soon be available on IBM and Dell Linux servers. The company plans to deliver integrated and tested storage solutions (like Cluster Server, Foundation Suite, and NetBackup) on IBM xSeries (Intel-based) Linux platform.

"We are also working with IBM for Veritas solutions on IBM's Z-series mainframes," informed Kumar.

Veritas announced that its Linux-based storage solutions are now certified for Dell's PowerEdge servers. Kumar also said that Veritas is following industry trends and will introduce products accordingly. "Eventually, Linux will move away from servers and on to network devices (like NAS filers)," he said. "The cluster market (another opportunity) is worth $ 1bn."