AnandTech: The State of Corporate IT: A case for Linux

[ Thanks to Bastion for this link. ]

"...In addition to all the benefits and possibilities mentioned earlier, Linux gave this company a bargaining chip in license negotiations with Microsoft. Earlier, they had passed on the Windows 2000 and Office 2000 upgrades, waiting instead to see what the future held after the evaluation. When the move to XP was being touted by Microsoft during subsequent meetings, they found that they were faced with some surprises. The proposed fee structure was radically different and established what amounted to a cost penalty for those who chose to stand pat instead of upgrading their operating systems and office suites to XP versions upon their initial release.

Currently, they had a large mix of Windows 9x and NT 4.x clients successfully running Office 97 software on laptops and desktops. They had stayed on top of bug fixes and system patches and found that for the most part, their existing infrastructure performed well enough as it was. They had maintained their NT 4.x Server infrastructure as well, opting not to move to Active Directory.

During this difficult time, Red Hat had proven to be a helpful ally. Instead of trying to push a whole-scale replacement of the infrastructure, they had worked to supplement it. Over time Linux brought more security, improved load balancing and an overall reduction in the growth rate of IT spending. Point of sale terminals were reliable, easy to manage and did not incur additional transaction costs. Their remote access and VPN configurations handled an ever increasing load with a higher degree of reliability and a lower cost. Their intranet had been transitioned over to Linux, and as a result cost less to maintain. It also eliminated interference with IIS based consumer and vendor systems accessed from outside of the company."

Complete Story

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• TechTarget.com: Managing the Windows-Linux enterprise(Aug 29, 2001)
• ZDNet: Windows and Linux: in perfect harmony(Aug 29, 2001)
• Three Regarding Microsoft: Dead Letter Writers, "Resistance is futile," and Linux Tips for Partners(Aug 23, 2001)
• Yahoo!/ZDNet: Insurer: Microsoft Is A Costly Choice (Aug 21, 2001)
• Case Study of Linux Usage in a Small Web Development Company(Aug 10, 2001)
• CNET: Commentary: Moving beyond Linux vs. Windows(Jun 19, 2001)
• ZDNet/Yahoo!: Am I a Microsoft lackey or what? (Apr 26, 2001)
• ComputerBits: Unix vs. Windows NT: A Religious Debate?(Apr 04, 2001)