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Corporate tide is turning to Linux

By Dominic Maher

Published: Wednesday 11 August 1999

At CA World this year, a survey of 5,000 IT professionals, conducted to discover the attendees' plans regarding Linux deployment, found a groundswell of support for the operating system (OS).

Conducted by the Merit Project (Maximising the Efficiency of Resources in Information Technology), the results indicated that companies are becoming more comfortable with the open source operating system as a second platform for enterprises.

Results from 2,000 of the 5,000 questioned indicate that 49 per cent rated Linux as "important to essential" to their enterprise computing strategies. The survey also revealed that 40 per cent are looking to deploy the OS within network and database management setups.

Martin Brampton, chief analyst at Bloor Research, explained that Linux vendors have established themselves in the server market place - and although there are some people who refuse to touch the OS, an increasing number will. "With more support on its way from major organisations and more applications porting to that environment, it makes it a plausible option," he said.

Brampton believes that although the Linux customer base is growing, it will not get to grips with Microsoft's stranglehold on the market and added that Unix and NetWare still play important roles. "All these area are looking for growth and will not let NT walk all over them," he concluded.

The complete report will be available in September, with the survey demonstrating how Linux is moving into other enterprise areas.