“When it came to embracing Linux, IBM had some convincing to do
with its legion of business partners. Big Blue had to overcome the
general confusion among business partners that money can be made
selling Linux systems though the operating system itself is free.
… “Linux is a viable vendor neutral alternative to other
platforms,” said Scott Handy, the director of Linux Solutions
Marketing for the IBM’s Software Group. “Business partners are able
to bring the same value-added products and services for Linux as
they would to any other operating system.” Yesterday, IBM
announced the Linux Lens program, which pays for the education and
training costs for business partners to become certified for Linux.
The company is also planning a 40-city tour featuring specific
training sessions for executive, sales and technical forces at
business partners. Speaking from IBM’s PartnerWorld in Atlanta,
Handy talked about what the company is doing to make Linux a viable
alternative to enterprise users in this question and answer
interview.”
“searchEnterpriseLinux: Who are IBM’s Linux
customers?
Handy: We have selected four segments that we
are focusing on. In general, though, Linux has a fair amount of
momentum across the boards. In total, we have over 1,700 ISVs
(independent software vendors) in addition to the over 28 IBM
software products available for Linux. Our four focus markets are
retail; telcos, which cluster racks of Linux-based servers
together; finance, where companies can consolidate tens or hundreds
of Unix servers onto a single S/390 (or the new zSeries 900
mainframe) running Linux; and small- to medium-sized businesses.
For the latter, we offer a package of Domino, DB2 and WebSphere for
Linux , which usually costs over $2,000, for $499. For a lot of
companies, it is the first time they have access to such enterprise
class software.”