Desktop Linux – no cost savings, says Barclays CTO

Linux is not a viable desktop proposition for most large organisations because the service issues surrounding it negate any cost savings on licence fees, according to the CTO of one of the largest IT operations in the world.

In an exclusive interview with silicon.com, Kevin Lloyd, CTO at bank Barclays, said Linux on the desktop for most companies will be limited to niche operational areas for many years to come.

"Linux on the desktop - I understand the arguments, I understand the availability of it, but it's not in this organisation and I suspect it would be some time before you would see it at scale and I don't think you'd ever see it, certainly not in my perspective, on the desktop," he said.

Barclays itself signed a £210m seven-year desktop services deal for 41,700 PCs in the organisation earlier this year as part of plans for the bank to standardise as an early on adopter on Microsoft's Windows and Office 2003 software products.

Lloyd admitted that many companies had been forced to look at alternatives when Microsoft introduced its controversial licensing changes in 2001 but he said the switch to open source on the desktop is not as compelling when the total cost of the move is taken into account.

"If you do a fully absorbed cost analysis my perspective there isn't that degree of clear water between one equation and the other, not if you've got a well run environment. Believe me, we've done the numbers," he said.

The big factor that often isn't taken into account with Linux is the service proposition, he said.

"It's all about the service wrap. You get the software free but it's a service wrapper and gaining clarity of your perspective on what you're prepared to accept and not accept in terms of service."

The server environment is a different proposition and Lloyd said Barclays already has examples of Linux in the UK retail bank and Barclays Capital through supply partners IBM and Hewlett-Packard.

Lloyd said he is watching the SCO and IBM legal battle but that it has not yet had any direct impact on Barclays.

"If the legal position ends up favouring SCO that would be a worry for a lot of people. The arguments that both sides erect are going to make it difficult to get a clear decision," he said. "From what I see, both have defensible positions and I think it will take some while before we see the outcome of that."

Check silicon.com on Monday for the full interview with Barclays CTO, Kevin Lloyd.