Linux: new options for SMBs

Not so long ago, infrastructure decisions for Small to Medium sized Business (SMB) were limited, and one vendor dominated the landscape. But Linux has changed all that.

To find out more about the opportunity that Linux can provide SMBs, and about what IBM is doing to help, we talked to Laurie Jelinek, Vice President, Sales - Small & Medium Business, Central Region, Americas. Here's what she had to say.

Why is Linux important to Small and Medium-sized Business?

Budgets are very tight, and solutions require a solid return on investment. Customers want vendor independence and choice, and that has created a demand for alternatives. Customers do not like being locked in by software licensing.

Linux reduces the total cost of ownership and provides for independence and choice. Linux is the fastest-growing operating system today. It's the number-one UNIX operating system. And Linux is well on its way to becoming the number-one server operating system.

IBM is engaged with more than 6,300 customers worldwide providing Linux-based solutions to their business problems. Independent software vendors have created more than 4,200 Linux-based applications using IBM software, and there are more than 33,000 Windows and Intel developers working with IBM software to build applications that run on Linux.

Twenty-five countries have produced 66 open-source legislative proposals. So Linux is really a hot topic for small and medium businesses.

What have SMBs been doing with Linux?

Small and medium businesses have been focused on their infrastructure. Again, they're looking for ways to reduce costs, improve vendor independence, get away from vendor lock-in, improve security, and they've been looking at server consolidation on servers such as the zSeries, iSeries, pSeries and xSeries.

Examples of areas they've been using Linux in include Web infrastructure such as firewalls and Web servers, and Bynari to replace Microsoft Exchange for enterprise messaging and e-mail servers, and Samba for print and file servers.

The file and print server space has always been the low-hanging fruit. What other solutions are available?

Small and medium businesses face many of the same challenges as IBM's largest customers. There are several examples of high-performance computing problems being addressed by Linux solutions in the central region.

For example, in the area of risk analysis and financial modeling, several financial institutions are leveraging Linux and Linux clusters to cost effectively execute proprietary rating and risk algorithms.

Or in the area of genetic modeling for life sciences, both human and plant genetic analysis are being conducted using Linux clusters, with at least one customer investigating Linux on iSeries server for genetics analysis, combined with their other business workloads.

Finally, in the area of 3-D modeling and simulation, several automotive suppliers are leveraging Linux solutions on xSeries clusters and IBM IntelliStation workstations.

IBM really does provide the most complete range of Linux-based capabilities in the marketplace. Every IBM server platform runs Linux. All of IBM's key middleware is being made available for Linux.

There are currently more than 65 products across the IBM software lines of WebSphere, DB2, Lotus, Rational and Tivoli with fully capable express offerings designed for small and medium businesses. IBM Global Services provide the broad array of consulting, enabling and support services specifically targeted for Linux customers.

IBM has made and continues to make investments in Linux. For example, IBM's Linux Technology Center provides more than 250 engineers worldwide who work full time on Linux as a part of the open source community.

More than 7,500 IBM employees work on Linux in porting centers: research, services, development labs, and in the areas of sales and marketing. IBM operates 3,000 Linux servers internally, running mission critical applications.

For example, the IBM Linux Website, the internal e-Workplace development website, IBM forums, the internal web search engine, and internal Web servers for over 300,000 employees worldwide.

Are there some specific Linux customers that you can talk about?

Yes, there sure are. In the area of Linux Virtual Services, Mobile Travel Guide wanted to launch an auto travel Web site driven by customer preferences and offering real-time services, and they wanted to do it in a very short period of time -- nine months.

They implemented a Linux-based infrastructure and IBM WebSphere solution which was delivered as On Demand Linux Virtual Services from IBM e-business hosting. The benefit to Mobile Travel Guide has been exceptional scalability, flexibility and support with limited up-front capital investment, and they made their nine month deadline.

Another customer that comes to mind is Winnebago Industries. They needed an e-mail upgrade because of problems they were experiencing with calendaring and the corruption of attachments within their existing system.

They were able to leverage Bynari and Linux under VM on a zSeries server to provide cost effective e-mail and calendaring -- the same server that runs their existing zSeries VSE business applications. This solution cost significantly less than the estimate to upgrade their existing system, and had minimal impact on their end users.

What do you see in the coming months for the SMB sector?

I see more zSeries mainframe business applications and solutions like PeopleSoft using Linux. More SMB type Linux applications, enabling larger databases, for example.

And now, Lotus Domino Web Access for basic e-mail, calendaring and instant messaging; and Lotus Workplace for high-value, component-based collaboration will soon becoming available on Linux, enabling SMB to deploy a pure Linux solution, wall-to-wall, using Mozilla web browsers on Linux.

These Lotus Linux products have been much anticipated, and we expect great things from them. The opportunity for SMBs to harness the security, stability and value of Linux has never been greater.