14 DAY TRIAL // Another big step for the open source operating system is to be done. Dell, which many years incorporated in its products Microsoft software, now is preparing to make a change.
Linux will share about a quarter of Dell's market after some successful inroads into enterprise segment, with the support of Red Hat Linux. It's going to be a major challenge for Microsoft, because, some months ago, Dell announced that it will not move to Linux, remaining a partner for the Redmond company. But, it seems that times have changed and the open source products are more and more used by companies.
Dell has recently increased support services for Linux (Red Hat), and now can resolve more than 90 percents of Red Hat service calls, without involving the distributor of the open source operating system.
Dell's worldwide marketing director for PowerEdge servers, Jay Parker, at a conference in Monte Carlo on Tuesday stated: "As part of Dell Service, we have managed over 500 Unix-to-Linux migrations. We see that growing, not shrinking, over time." Further, Parker explained that this growth of market for Linux is happening because many customers are migrating from proprietary Unix systems like IBM's AIX or Sun Solaris. And a special ingredient for this growth is reliability, enhanced capabilities and the low cost of Linux, doubled by customers satisfaction.
Until now, Dell focused only on Red Hat Linux, but they are planning to make a move to Novell/SUSE Linux. "Now we are in the process of approving Novell/SUSE Linux as a 'Tier 1' offering. We are doing a tremendous amount of testing, validation and certification for Red Hat and SUSE, as well as offering first and second level support for customers on the hardware and the operating system."
There can be another reason for a mass implementation of Linux. Big companies like IBM have a strong and large market for their Unix-based solutions. That's why, to survive on this market, you have to be impressive and offer to possible customers a strong product.