When considering whether to use or expand Linux desktops within a corporate environment, many IT managers will need to grapple with their enterprise requirements and the relative ability of easily integrating Linux desktops to their existing IT environment from an infrastructure and applications perspective. It's not always an easy undertaking trying to be the pioneer of innovative technology because you end up being the first one dealing with technical and operational issues that no one else has faced before, which is why some IT managers take the path of least resistance. They wait until someone else has become the guinea pig before them, trying out the new technology. When there is significant evidence of other enterprises successfully using the new technology that is when they jump on the bandwagon to start deploying it. It's no different with Linux desktops.
First, I'm going to address some of the reasons that may hold some IT managers back from adopting Linux desktops in the enterprises. The first reason is obtaining adequate technical support for Linux desktops. Some IT managers may fear that since most of the world is familiar with Windows desktops as the corporate standard, they will be unable to staff their desktop support crew with the required Linux expertise. The second reason is integration with their IT corporate application and infrastructure environment. They may be afraid that the current applications and networking tools they use to manage their daily operations may be severely impacted by technical incompatibilities with the Linux desktop. The third reason is familiarity breeds laziness. Because they are more familiar with the Windows desktop environment, they are afraid to try something new which they have no experience in. Also, they do not want to put in effort in researching alternatives when daily operations seem to be working fine.
Let's start by addressing these concerns. If you are running an IT Shop, chances are strong that you actually do know what Linux is. You're probably used to supporting it on the server side for web applications, content management systems or databases. However, it was probably a long shot for you to even consider using Linux on the desktop, considering how firmly entrenched Windows desktops were with Windows applications such as Outlook, MS Access, MS Office, SharePoint and ERP systems. You pretty much were in a situation where you were locked into the Microsoft ecosystem of apps and infrastructure products. However, in case, you haven't noticed the IT landscape has been changing quite dramatically over the years. What you don't realize is if you set up your IT corporate environment to more open and flexible IT standards, you don't have to be locked into the Microsoft ecosystem anymore. You can choose to limit your portfolio of Microsoft products to just what you truly need and value in your enterprise and the rest you can replace with open source solutions like Linux on the desktop. As for technical support, Linux is being taught in more universities to meet the staffing demand on the server side so you can rest assured, the workforce of tomorrow will be filled with young grads who are 'Linux knowledgeable'. In terms of commercial support, there are Linux vendors and consultants today who will provide you with the expertise to help you support your enterprise.
The Linux Friendly Vendors tab of this site lists some of these vendors. I will be covering more on this subject in a later post.
How is the IT landscape changing? Look at what consumers value most for entertainment and personal use: tablets and smartphones. The sales of those two devices are rapidly outpacing the sales of desktop laptops and PC's. What is the most prevalent OS in those 2 devices? It's Android, a hybrid OS, with a Java front-end on a Linux kernel. With workers asking their corporate IT administrators to support their device of choice aka
BYOD, the pressure is on to support cross-platform devices. Also, the emergence of
cloud computing has driven the trend for applications to go from native on the desktop to a web app served from the clouds, making it no longer a requirement to be tied down to a Microsoft OS platform on the client side. This also addresses the second concern of integrating with corporate applications and infrastructure.
If you make it company policy to produce and maintain documents in open formats like PDF, XML and ODF, which can be consumed by any device regardless of platform, you are no longer limited by your Office application formats such as DOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSW, PPT, etc. If you are working with entities outside your company, you will then be able to share, exchange and edit documents without worrying about the different platforms they were created or revised on. This was an important lesson learned from the
City of Munich's successful Linux desktop deployment. Also, if your ERP systems are now web applications either in PHP, JAVA or .NET, make sure you test thoroughly how they will run on your Linux distro of choice and browser of choice. That's already half the battle of your decision to either go with Linux on the desktop or not.
As for the third reason of familiarity breeding laziness as opposed to contempt, being an IT manager, you can ill afford to sit on your laurels forever. The IT landscape is changing as we speak and your users are going to become even more demanding when they see that other enterprises are successfully meeting their own end user requests for BYOD. You are going to be forced eventually to not just support Windows desktops, but to create applications enabled by flexible infrastructure, allowing users to consume and work on those applications anytime, anywhere, any location and on any device. That's quite a tall order for any IT manager. But lucky for you, that's where
VDI comes into play.
I am not going to expound in great detail about VDI on this particular post. I will reserve that discussion for a later post. All that you need to know is that the concept of Virtual Desktop Infrastructure will enable you, as an IT manager, to meet that requirement from end users to consume and work on applications anytime, anywhere, any location and on any device. For reference, take a look at this example. A university in Japan with a specific requirement to support and access both Linux and Windows desktops for professors and students was
successfully documented using a VDI solution from a company called
Virtual Bridges. The product they used was called VERGE. Keep in mind there are also other VDI vendors, with one of the more well-known being
VMWare.
Throughout the years, there have been attempts by enterprises around the world to use Linux desktops within their corporate environment. Some have encountered success while others have ended in failure or mixed results. If you are an IT manager who is seriously considering using Linux on the desktop environment, you need to learn from the mistakes and successes of others who tried it before you. More importantly, you need to do your own due diligence. That means you will need to come up with a business case to help you decide whether it's the right fit for your organization and not just because everyone else is doing it. It's very easy to get sidetracked by the promise of Linux openness and flexibility. After all, there are many benefits to expanding the Linux desktop, mostly due to IT purchasing flexibility, reduced licensing and support costs, improved security and improved systems administration tasks. However, before any of those benefits can be realized, one most execute all the important steps that will lead to a successful outcome, which includes creating a suitable business case, garnering corporate stakeholder support and producing a rock solid implementation and change management plan. These topics and more will be discussed in later posts if you subscribe to this site.
