IBM Showcases Linux Lineup

The news coincides with this week's LinuxWorld trade show in San Francisco. The event is a showcase of the latest developments in the open-source space, which is showing signs of coming into its own as a far-reaching software protocol for organizations large and small.

The clearest evidence of this came from IBM's joint announcement with open-source developer SuSE Linux that SuSE's Linux Enterprise Server 8 has achieved the first-ever security certification of Linux, Common Criteria (CC) Security running on IBM eServer xSeries. CC is an ISO standard used by the federal government and other organizations that provides a standardized way of expressing security requirements and defines the respective set of rigorous criteria by which the product will be evaluated. The certification essentially is a "seal of approval" that opens the door for these organizations to deploy Linux on various parts of their infrastructures.

SuSE chairman Roland Dyroff says the new certification is allowing the company to work more closely with government agencies such as NASA, the U.S. Senate and Homeland Security, and that the development will help strengthen its channel. "We need to build a bigger VAR network than we currently have, and this opens their doors to the government more than was possible before," he says.

IBM's Jim Stalling, general manager of Linux technologies, says Red Hat, Oracle and other companies are working toward attaining the same certification.

"Years ago, people said Linux couldn't stand the rigor of governmental certification requirements, but this creates an opportunity for companies to write applications to Linux, particularly on government contracts," he says.

The company also previewed its new Linux ad campaign, to be unveiled formally next month, and announced an incentive program for ISVs working with IBM's Linux solutions. The program includes marketing support and eight newly Linux-enabled applications in areas including CRM, ERP, collaboration, e-Commerce, project management and service management.

IBM used the event to introduce a few of its customers, saying that its Linux client base now spans the entire spectrum from SMB to the enterprise.

"A lot of customers are changing their business models and doing exciting things with Linux," Stallings says. "It's not just Fortune 500 or Global 1000 companies; we're seeing more adoption in the SMB space because of the lower cost of ownership and quicker implementations Linux offers."

One such customer is NYFIX, a 250-employee maker of order-flow and execution systems for the New York Stock Exchange. The company currently has about 1,500 terminals that help route orders to traders on the exchange floor, handling as many as 1 billion shares per day.

"We've been a Unix shop for years, but have been moving to Linux because we have about 1,000 network connections and need advanced features to guarantee their availability," says Jim Strasenburgh, NYFIX vice president of systems. "You'd think you couldn't bet your business on an entry-level Linux operating system, but the opposite has been true for us."

He says the key for customers migrating to Linux is having a strong relationship with its vendors. IBM Global Services now has about 3,000 employees trained in open-source technologies, 10 times what it had two years ago.

"As a small company in this market, we need the vendor to help us with the hardware components and give us the right people to help hook it all together," he says.