FNB Shifts to Linux

The First National Bank (FNB) of South Africa is said to have recently made an agreement with Novell Inc. in order to start a re-platforming process, through which it aims to bring Novell's Linux distribution on no less than 12,000 desktop computers. Here I could say that this strategy is not actually something done in premiere. There were some other companies and institutions which have done it before and declared themselves very content with the afterwards results. Reasons behind the decision of switching to Linux are countless, starting with the licensing issue and ending up with transparency and reliability issues. Not to mention the sustained effort coming on behalf of its developers in maintaining and deploying it.

Linux adoption has brought significant gains in different domains, gaining all kind of fans, from stockbrokers to schools and governments.

The agreement between Novell and FNB would be the most significant Linux adoption ever made in South Africa.

"Novell's ability to offer a complete ecosystem to take care of the customer long after the installation of software and establish a trusted relationship was key for FNB. Deployments like this one continue to demonstrate the value and readiness of desktop Linux solutions from Novell for enterprise customers." stated Stafford Masie, managing director with Novell SA.

Marius Agenbag, managing director with Ubusha Technologies, claims that one of the main reasons which caused FNB to switch to an open source operating system such as Novell's, would be its high power of customization, which makes it more suitable for its needs.

"Novell was chosen based on the freedom and flexibility it afforded the customer. While much of the overall solution uses standard technology, a fair amount is being customized for FNB's unique needs. Without access to open source code and adherence to open standards, those changes and customizations will not be possible." said Agenbag.