CIO jury gives verdict on Linux

Following recent desktop Linux trials announced by the NHS and the government and recent IDC figures that showed the open source software continues to eat into the Unix market on the server side, we asked our panel if Linux is ready for the enterprise.

Two-thirds of our 12-man CIO Jury said Linux is now a viable part of the IT strategy, with the remaining four still harboring major concerns.

Consumer goods manufacturer Unilever is one firm that has firmly nailed its Linux credentials to the wall, having already committed to achieving £66m in savings over three years by moving from Unix.

Martin Armitage, head of the global information organization at Unilever, said: `"This is an evolution starting with appliance devices such as name servers, firewalls, internet sites, then to non mission critical applications and finally to large scale mission critical applications. The evolution commences in 2002, and we expect by 2006 all new systems which were previously Unix will be Linux based."

Gavin Whatrup, IT director at Delaney, Lund, Knox, Warren & Partners, said that while Linux is ready for mainstream business use, its proven track record is limited to the application server environment, where it offers the ability to be customized for specific tasks.

"We have implemented Apache on Linux plus we have a roadmap for the migration of our Domino infrastructure to Linux," he said. "This will be, however, within a Windows directory managed infrastructure. No flavor of Linux yet has the general server omnipotence to compete with Microsoft or Novell's directory offerings."

But the University of Strathclyde's director of information services Dr Stuart Brought claims Linux is not yet ready for mission critical systems. "Linux, as a middle tier or on departmental servers, is OK but within our main machine room infrastructures, it is not quite there yet. But keep watching," he said.

The desktop also remains an area where CIOs are still uncertain about the viability of Linux, despite Sun's recent Java Desktop System and NHS announcements.

Frank Coyle, IT director at John Menzies, said Novell's acquisition of SUSE Linux and Sun's JDS have taken away some of the uncertainty. "We are, however, left with our legacy of Microsoft products currently in place, thus, while Linux is ready for mainstream business use, it will not necessarily be taken up by many companies unless there is a specific reason for them to move," he said.

Pete Smith, director of IT and telcoms at Inmarsat, said initial savings from implementing open source systems could hide much bigger cost and compatibility problems.

"You may save money initially but you will probably spend much more in the long run trying to ensure systems are compatible and can take advantage of all other parts of your IT environment. If you implement an open source application, such as an alternative to MS Office, you will be faced with a significant user training and education problem," he said.

Other members of the CIO Jury raised concerns about the security of open source systems and the need for new skills and expertise in the IT organization.

Today's CIO Jury was:

Martin Armitage, Head of Global Information Organization, Unilever
Ian Auger, Head of IT and Communications, ITN
Graham Benson, Information Services Director and CIO, Screwfix Direct
Dr. Stuart Brough, Director of IT Services, University of Strathclyde
Paul Coby, CIO, British Airways
Frank Coyle, IT Director, John Menzies Distribution
Derek Gannon, IT Director, The Guardian
John Keeling, Director of Computer Services, John Lewis Partnership
Pete Smith, Director of IT and Telecoms, Inmarsat
Gavin Whatrup, IT Director, Delaney, Lund, Knox, Warren & Partners
Paul Worthington, CTO, Kingfisher
David Yu, CTO, Betfair.com