Linux for enterprises

Linux is an open, stable and relatively economical operating system and now has more than 10 million users throughout the world. Due to its stability and high degree of scalability, Linux is gaining importance in business use. Today, Linux's share of new server operating system installations is almost 20%.

Software AG reacted early to market demand and successfully transferred its product range to the open source operating system, making it one of the leading suppliers of Linux-based mission-critical applications.

In the past, the company intensified product development to make sure products support the Linux platform. We now have the results of experience within numerous projects across more than 10 countries. Using Software AG products, companies are actively developing Linux-based solutions for electronic business applications and Web services. The Software AG products utilised include high performance development tools and database solutions for XML - all running on Linux platforms.

In the Software AG Research & Development department, Linux now holds an equal position with other system platforms. When new products are launched, Linux versions mostly come on to the market at the same time as versions for Windows, Unix or mainframes. Software AG's core products are approved for the SuSE Linux Enterprise Server as well as the IBM S/390 mainframe platform. In addition, nearly the whole product range is available on SUSE Linux for the Intel platform, emphasising the commitment from both sides to build on their partnership together. Products that can run on Linux include the high performance Adabas database, the development environment Natural, Tamino XML server and the integration server EntireX.

Adabas and Natural are recognised as being extremely stable and reliable. In addition to its technical advantages in the area of performance and availability, Adabas is characterised by low cost of ownership. This advantage of Adabas is also valid for IT solutions based on Linux.

Important arguments in favour of Linux are high reliability and stability. The acquisition costs compared to Windows or Unix systems are also more advantageous. At present, migration and consolidation - in short, the unification of IT infrastructure - are high on the list of priorities for most customers with Linux offering interesting options for the replacement of old systems.

In the high-end or mainframe sector, Linux presents a really convincing alternative to distributed Unix systems. Linux allows you to consolidate distributed Unix systems on a central mainframe platform, in turn allowing IT departments to make considerable cost savings in system administration and IT infrastructure. For some time now, there has been a noticeable trend towards the increased use of mainframes as multi-operating system platforms. This simplifies system maintenance and helps to lower the total costs for operating an IT landscape.

A current Gartner survey supports the trend towards Linux systems. One-sixth of companies surveyed want to migrate from Windows to Linux and another sixth from Unix to Linux. One-third of those asked, actually plan to use the old system and new Linux system in parallel. IDC also support this trend by forecasting a growth in the third quarter this year of 50% over the same quarter in 2002.

Increasing demand for Linux is especially noticeable in the public sector. In particular, the trend towards the use of open source software in this sector is noticeable worldwide. The requirements for investment security and independence from a single manufacturer are particularly realisable in the public sector in combination with other open standards such as XML. Servers are the focal point of the Linux trend. However, at Software AG, we are already running surveys as to how desktop PCs/clients with Linux can be used particularly in official departments. For some time, it has no longer been the case that Internet-oriented applications such as e-mail or Web servers as well as file-and-print services are operated on Linux. Increasingly, critical business applications are running on Linux.

"Around the globe, Software AG is working with numerous clients in the public sector, among them the city of Munich. The Munich city council has recently decided to transfer their IT to Linux in the near future. We strongly believe that more and more clients will repeat this decision and favour Linux-based systems," says Rainer Pilz, of Software AG in Germany.

In the mainframe segment, demand is also increasing. Banks and insurance companies in particular show an increased interest in using Linux as a central platform with which to modernise their mainframes - two areas in which Software AG has considerable know-how and expertise.

But the same applies to other areas of commerce and industry: openness, flexibility, orientation towards the future and no ties to a particular manufacturer are key criteria for Software AG customers, leading to the choice of a Linux-based solution.