The
slow one now will later be fast
As the present now will later be past
The order is rapidly fadin'
And the first one now will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'
— From the song, 'The times they are a changin',
by Bob Dylan
 When
the Linux kernel was written by Linus Torvalds, many
thought that the new open source OS was just hype. At
the same time many users thought it was the best thing
to happen to mankind, since canned baked beans. They
began to tout the OS benefits rather vociferously. And
those who detested the thought of a Windows-dominated
world supported the growth of Linux.
The open source community actively developed and matured
the technology. And Linux distribution vendors like
Red Hat and SuSE began to market enterprise-class Linux
OSs backed with complete support services.
IDC
said that Linux is the fastest growing platform and
is projected to grow 174 percent to $5.9 billion by
2006. The Aberdeen Group forecasts 40 percent growth
for Linux servers in 2003. The Gartner group said that
between 2001 and 2005, Linux will record a CAGR of 91
percent. And IDC also says that Linux saves enterprise
customers 45-80 percent in TCO over RISC/Unix.
Server vendors like HP, IBM, Dell, and Sun have started
shipping hardware pre-installed with Linux even though
some of them have spent thousands to develop proprietary
Unix-variants. And enterprise applications solutions
vendors have released versions of their products optimized
to run on Linux.
With so much positive development around Linux, enterprises
slowly began to adopt the open source OS. In India,
companies began to use Linux on their non-mission critical
servers as a cautious trial. Pleased by the performance,
a handful of them have migrated their mission critical
servers to Linux.
The following articles give you a picture of the use
of Linux in the Indian enterprise. It answers questions
in your mind like, Are companies seriously considering
Linux? Is Linux right for my enterprise, and is it really
cost-effective?
The articles also reflect the Linux initiatives of companies
like Asian Paints and IDBI Bank in detail. These are
further substantiated by short case studies of Linux
initiatives taken by Indian companies like Rolta India
Limited, Electronics Research and Development Centre
of India (ER&DCI), New India Assurance Company Limited,
and C-DAC.
These stories are not about building a false hype or
about a Linux vs. Windows vs. Solaris slang match. We
have talked to enterprise users, server vendors, enterprise
applications solutions vendors, and analysts to bring
you a balanced view about implementing Linux in the
mission critical space. See if you recognize a similar
need felt by your organization in the following articles,
and judge for yourself if you can address the need in
a similar fashion.
With Linux definitely, "the times they are a-changin."
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