14 DAY TRIAL // The browser wars are as heated as it’s ever been, but Firefox is still the number one ‘alternative’ browser out there with a significant market share. But getting people to use Firefox is one thing, getting companies to do it is quite another. With plenty of other companies still relying on Internet Explorer 6, IBM has taken a bold move, for a company its size, and is now switching to Firefox as the preferred default browser for its employees.
“Like many individuals and members of organizations, IBMers use their browsers a lot for conducting business. Our desktop and laptop software environments have some common applications but also software specific to do our various jobs. And these jobs are varied, as there are about 400,000 IBM employees around the world,” Bob Sutor, VP of open source and Linux at IBM's Software Group, wrote on his blog.
“We’re officially adding a new piece of software to the list of default common applications we expect employees to use, and that’s the Mozilla Firefox browser,” he announced.
Practically, the open-source browser now becomes the preferred application of its type and all employees are encouraged to use it for all their browsing needs. Sutor has augmented IBM’s decision with some key facts. Notably, he says Firefox is enterprise ready and that IBM is ready to make the switch.
One of the reasons IBM chose Firefox is the browser’s commitment to standards, particularly open standards. The browser’s thriving community of developers and the popularity of the project ensure its long term survival, another key element in the decision.
But probably more important is the fact that Firefox is open source. IBM is one of the largest and oldest tech companies around, but it has been one of the early adopters of open source and is a big contributor to open-source software, from the Linux kernel to its own applications.
The choice to use open source, as is the case Firefox, is very practical in nature. With the source code readily available, IBM can set about customizing the browser for its own purposes or build internal tools that integrate with the browser. Of course, plenty of IBM employees have been using Firefox already, but the company says it now asks all employees to use it primarily, except in special circumstances, and this applies to employees using any platform, Windows, Linux or Mac OS.