Adaptability holds Linux back

Jyotsana K

BANGALORE: Technology will certainly play a vital role in taking Indian SMBs to compete globally. Easier said than done. Do SMBs really understand the business benefits of using technology? And deciding which particular technology would cater to these cash-strapped organizations is a million-dollar question.

Linux has hit the market widely when it comes to cost efficiency. Lower TCO of Linux OS in comparison to other proprietary software makes it highly visible among enterprises across the country.

Apart from the cost, Linux is a preferable OS in terms of speed and ease of use and requires less hardware resources.

" The transition from Microsoft to Linux will reduce operating cost and give more value proposition. The savings arising out of switching over from windows to Linux will far outweigh the cost of migration and any potential downtime", says BK Khaitan, RPG Cables, Chief Manager-IT.

Despite the fact that Linux has been in India for more than 5 years and all the added advantages associated, it has not been a popular option for business groups. SMBs are still skeptical about Linux and various advantages associated with it.

Admits Milind Dhupekar, GM (IT), Lupin Ltd., "I do not want to experiment with open source software at my company because it is not reliable", voting for the reliability that proprietary software has shown for years now.

One of the fundamental constraints that holds the full penetration of Linux is the lack of familiarity. Organizations are not willing to take any risks to migrate to Linux because of the lack of familiarity of Linux as an operating system. As of now, Linux is largely limited to IT and ITES companies only.

"Familiarity with Linux would fetch it the popularity, which needs a strong campaigning", says Gopi Garge, Director, Exocore Consulting. The company has clients of the likes of Spice Telecom, Encore Software (P) Ltd, Avasthgen Grain, Cross Domain etc. who have successfully implemented Linux.

Linux penetration also involves training needs of different layers of IT people in the organization. "Some introspection is required as to how the Linux is going to impact the existing hardwares (including all peripherals and components), networking protocols, application software, people etc." adds Khaitan.

Yet there are some organizations which do not want to migrate because they are not worried about the cost. "IT is essential for our future growth and we cannot compromise on the budgeting part of it, but don’t want to switch over to Linux because of the adaptability with the new environment, mentions Jose Joseph, Dy Manager IT, Triveni Engineering & Industries Ltd., ".

The company is least worried about the cost affair of proprietary software as far as they realize the business benefits of their existing software.

However, " as far as end users are concerned, migration will have no impact whatsoever and therefore they do not require any training", asserts Khaitan. Cost of migration from Windows to Linux will mainly include cost of hardware upgrades, cost of software upgrades and cost of training.

"Using Linux over a period of time will justify the costs of migration as well as ROI ", says Sumil, CIO, OSN Technologies, who runs a consultancy firm is all praise for open source software products.

About the challenges of supporting and managing the technology, he is quite satisfied with open source software products as well as the support the open source software vendors provide personally as well as through the website which enormously helps his team.

About proprietary software products, he says resellers are not very honest in terms of costs. He would prefer to order the product directly from the vendor than rely on resellers. Moreover, licensing and upgradation of proprietary software is again a problem, which is not favorable for small businesses in terms of costs and time.

Time will only tell whether Linux would be able to see an extensive penetration among SMBs.