SAVING ENTERPRISE IT COSTS WITH OPEN
SOURCEBy Utsav Babel
I.T. is expensive! In today’s business environment, IT is an extremely important part of business
Servers, laptops and other workstations are expensive hardware, and this cost is unavoidable
Software today is expensive too! So now, with expensive hardware, companies are forced to buy expensive software licenses to make proper use of their expensive hardware
THE CURRENT SCENARIO
• In an average corporate IT environment, you will find the following commonly used software:
• The Operating System (Windows 7, 8 or 8.1 Professional)
• The Office suite (Microsoft Office 2007, 2010 or 2013)
• Communication Suite (Microsoft Outlook, which is included in the premium office distribution)
• The Anti-virus software (Norton, McAfee, Kaspersky, BitDefender, etc.)
Problems with the current scenario
Licensing headaches
Every installation consumes a license, companies like Microsoft have very unfriendly licensing terms. E.g.: Even if you have 10 Windows licenses and 10 computers and you reinstall Windows on one of the computers because of some problems, it registers as an 11th license
You need to agree to periodic audits from Microsoft even though you’re honestly paying for the software that you use
Each software package has its own end of life after which Microsoft forces you to upgrade the said package
Security Microsoft Windows family is the most targeted
family of operating systems and has countless viruses and malware attacks each day
Microsoft Windows is less secure against hackers that may steal your personal data for their gain
An anti-virus/ anti-malware software is always required on Windows and even that doesn’t assure of its secure functioning
The Operating System often sends diagnostic data to Microsoft’s servers, which may be considered a privacy issue
Unstable
Due to some problem or another, Windows is vulnerable to “Hardware conflicts” and similar situations that may cause it to be highly unstable for use
Windows OS has a very low tolerance for memory inconsistencies which often lead to something called the “Blue Screen of Death” or BSOD
Instabilities may cost business where deadlines are very important, like auditing
BSOD through the ages
Downtime
Require frequent system maintenance activities
Restart required for any major configuration change, which can be a big problem in case of servers
The Solution?
• Linux may be loaded with other great open source software like OpenOffice.org which work well as a productivity suite
• To overcome the problems posed by the existing leader in the current corporate IT environment, one may use an open source alternative – Linux
• Linux is equipped with almost every feature that Windows offers
Advantages of Linux over Microsoft Windows
ZERO LICENSING HASSLESLinux comes with no licensing issuesNo Activation of software or other time consuming activities
No frequent licensing checks onlineNo mandatory audits for license count verification
EXTREMELY SECURELinux is a multi-level architecture based operating system that has advanced permission features that are customisable for every operation
It is certified “hack proof” at several events such as the Pwn2own 2008 & 2013, where Windows based computers were hacked in minutes
The code for Linux is managed by skilled programmers from all aspects of life, it is verified and extensively tested for things that may compromise security
Linux is affected by absolutely no viruses at the moment. The number of viruses developed for Linux may be counted on one hand, i.e., under 5
EXTREMELY STABLEBecause of the multi-level structure that Linux follows, it is extremely stable and robust
Linux computers may stay on for months before they require any sort of maintenance
The structure of Linux throws away any chances of hardware conflicts or memory corruption
UPTIMELinux computers/ servers can stay on for months together and require no frequent maintenance
Any major configuration only required restarting of that particular “service” and not the entire machine
Even driver updates do not require any restarts
Pricing of Microsoft Windows along with the productivity office suite
Windows 8.1 Upgrade License with
Software Assurance – INR 7790/- computer per year
Microsoft Office 2013
Pro Plus (With
Microsoft Outlook) –
INR 14691/-
computer per year at the
minimum
Support cost is extra
Pricing of a Linux distribution along with the productivity office suite
• Ubuntu Linux 14.04? INR 0.00 per computer per year
INR 0.00 per computer per year
Support cost is extra but very nominal
• OpenOffice.org?
License?
Linux comes with a GPL, also knows an the GNU Public License, which specifies that the software supplied may be used, modified, repackaged and redeployed by any for absolutely no cost. One may not charge for selling a Linux distribution like Ubuntu but can only charge for the support that they may provide for it.
Say NO to Piracy
Microsoft’s expensive licensing costs indirectly force many users into pirating their software and thus breaking the law
Linux on the other hand is community supported and is absolutely free for anyone to use, if you like it and wish to support them, you may donate what you think the software is worth to you
Disadvantages of Linux
Learning Curve Involved: You may need to train your employees to be able to use it properly as it isn’t as popular at the moment
Proprietary software isn’t available on Linux (e.g.: Tally, but there are ways to run this on Linux too!)
Driver support for less popular hardware is very limited
The End◦ Sources:
◦ Wikipedia.org◦ Ubuntu.com◦ Microsoft.com◦ Linux.org◦ OpenOffice.org
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