IBM To Launch Comprehensive Linux Desktop Support Program Next Year
At the first Linux Desktop Consortium conference, a key IGS executive said increasing customer interest is prompting the development of a comprehensive, general-purpose technical support program to replace what is now a custom service offered to only a handful of customers.
"Linux is ready to blossom on the desktop," said Samuel Docknevich, a Linux and grid services executive at IGS Americas, during a presentation on IBM's future Linux plans at Boston University Corporate Training center. "Support is a big issue in the world of desktops. We're putting together a support plan for the Linux desktop. Big customers want Level 2 and Level 3 support. We're not there today but will be there next year."
IBM's announcement comes less than a week after Novell announced its $210 million planned acquisition of SUSE Linux and strategy to expand its 24x7 technical support program and Linux support to corporate customers on a global basis.
One leading voice in the open-source community said the IGS announcement--delivered with an illustration of a penguin biting the heels of Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates--shows that Big Blue is for the first time aggressively endorsing Linux on the desktop side, which will cause consternation in Redmond, Wash.
"It's a substantial move for them, and it shows they expect Linux desktop to follow the same curve as the Linux servers," said Bruce Perens, a well-known Linux/open-source activist who used to head up Hewlett-Packard's open-source effort. "It's a pure services play. IBM is now saying they're ready to support their customers on the desktop."
Docknevich noted that IBM--which tossed $50 million at Novell last week toward the purchase price of SUSE--will support both Red Hat and Novell SUSE Linux desktops. The Novell-SUSE consolidation, he claimed, will be a positive for Linux on the desktop.
"It's good for business and good for Linux because it will force innovation to happen quicker," he said. "But one size doesn't fit all."
IBM currently has enterprise agreements in place with both vendors and offers limited, customized desktop support for some using Red Hat's Bluecurve user interface, sources have said.
IBM cited a recent IDC study saying that Linux on the desktop will grow from roughly 1.5 percent market share today to 7 percent by 2006.
At the conference, Linux backers acknowledged that Linux remains in its infancy on the desktop and that lack of ISV and technical support remains a deployment blocker for corporations. Executives at Novell's Ximian noted that the company will likely integrate the Ximian Desktop 2 desktop client more tightly with SUSE's Linux distribution.
IGS claims it has several very large companies piloting Linux on the desktop that need services, but they refused to provide any names.
"We have customers who are ready [for technical support]," said David Getzin, a senior sales executive of IBM's U.S. Linux Solution Sales.
Internally, IBM expects to grow its number of Linux desktop users to 40,000 to 50,000 desktops in a year's time, up from 14,000 technical users today, said Docknevich. IBM employs roughly 300,000.
At the conference, Ximian trotted out names of large companies deploying Linux on the desktop, including Verizon, which now has 500 technical Linux desktop users, and pointed to Disney as "one of the largest Linux desktop deployments."
At least one source at the sparsely attended conference claimed that Sprint plans a 20,000- to 40,000-seat Linux desktop deployment.
Capital Cardiology Group, Albany, N.Y., and system integrator Lille announced at the conference a 200-seat Windows desktop migration to a Linux desktop thin-client solution. The project, which began last October and finished up in May, is expected to reduce the health-care company's cost per desktop to $947 from the $1,500 it pays for Windows support annually.
Attendees said that lack of ISV support remains an obstacle to Linux desktop deployment, but increasing technical support from IBM and Novell will give customers more confidence to deploy Linux on the desktop.
Nat Friedman, co-founder of Ximian, said Novell is investing heavily in Linux desktop deployments--and technical support--during its 2004 fiscal year, which began last month.
While IBM plans technical support for enterprise customers, Novell will have an open market on the SMB side, he said.
"Our budget is a lot bigger than it was in 2003," quipped Friedman. "Novell has a global support program and 1,200 support people and a channel, which gives it a channel into small and medium- size business, which is a hard nut to crack. At Ximian, we had written off SMBs because there was no way to reach them. "