While unsubstantiated marketing hype and the sowing of FUD (Fear,
Uncertainty and Doubt) have long been prevalent in the IT industry, the
phenomena have been exacerbated by the growing interest business is
showing in Linux and OSS.
As a result and although the benefits are clear to
many, companies have delayed their investigations into alternatives for
more established software brands. Local OSS specialist, Ubusha, has
devised a methodology to address this issue by helping local business
to objectively assess the relative merits of migrating to the OSS
world.
According to Marius Agenbag, a director of Ubusha,
the chief inhibitor of OSS adoption has been that business views it as
a purely technological decision. “The Linux Discovery and Assessment
programme looks beyond pure technology issues and considers the people
and processes of a given IT environment,” he says.
Ubusha believes OSS and Linux can be effectively deployed in three
primary areas of a business – areas that can in fact constitute the
entire IT infrastructure of a company. “We look at the desktop, the
infrastructure services [server] environment and software development
aspects of an IT shop,” notes Agenbag. “Each of these areas has its own
set of business values, requirements and dependencies and these must
all be fully considered before mooting any migration strategy.”
Stafford Masie, MD of Novell SA agrees: “For OSS and
Linux to succeed in business environments, it needs an operational
framework that complies to industry standards. Ubusha's effort
addresses this need – it provides the collateral that serves as a bible
for implementation and discovery workshops. It will also help to
address key questions associated with Linux: Once Linux is in an
environment, how does it live there? And, how do you measure service
delivery around Linux?”
Masie believes the key is to establish best practice
and methodologies for delivering Linux and OSS in corporate
environments. “And once it’s in , how do you maintain it and how do you
measure its effectiveness based on industry standards? Ubusha is
helping to address those issues,” he says.
The primary outcomes of an Ubusha-facilitated
assessment are: a strategy report outlining the business case for
migration; an architecture report which offers recommendations around
people, processes and technologies; and, finally, a roadmap that
considers change management issues and provides timelines for effective
deployment and training, where required.
“The purpose of the programme is to assist businesses
in fully understanding the benefits of OSS alternatives and help them
to mitigate the risks involved in a transition,” concludes Agenbag.
Contacts:
Marius Agenbag; Business Development Director; Ubusha; (011) 679 1942; marius@ubusha.co.za
Trish Barwick; Channel Manager; Novell SA; (011) 322-8300; tbarwick@novell.com
Craig Rodney; Emerging Media Communications; 083 357 3439; craig@emergingmedia.co.za
Author: Trish Barwick, Novell SA
(2004-07-01)