Novell is making headway in getting its own systems on Linux and other open source technologies, an interview with its CIO revealed at BrainShare Europe.
Debra Anderson, Novell`s CIO, says she set herself three migration goals at the beginning of Novell`s fiscal year: to have 90% of staff on OpenOffice.org`s productivity suite by the end of July, 50% on Novell Linux desktop by 31 October, and to double Linux servers in the data centre.
Off a low base of "40 to 50" servers in the data centre ("a conservative estimate, as I am conservative by nature," she says), the third goal has already been attained. There are now 100 Linux-based servers out of 800 across Novell.
Open up
As regards OpenOffice, Anderson records another win. All employees now have OpenOffice installed, with 87% indicating they use it regularly. "I have a pretty clear view of the impediments [to its use]," Anderson says. "Some are technical, and can be sorted out through interaction with the open source community or feeding it back to product development."
She adds that some improvements will take longer than others. "Application plug-ins assume you`re using Microsoft. So imports and exports must happen in MS formats. And sometimes we collaborate with companies outside of Novell using Microsoft. Other issues like the 32KB limit on Calc will probably get resolved pretty quickly by the community. I must say they have been very good and responsive in the times we needed them."
Anderson expects quick closure of the functionality gaps between OpenOffice and MS Office. "But I`m talking core functionality. There`s no need for some of the Microsoft functionality; pan from the right, pan from the left and all that."
The migration to Novell Linux desktop will prove more time-consuming. Anderson says half of Novell`s employees are already on one form or another of Novell Linux desktop. The 50% target was achieved ahead of deadline. "We will keep focusing on growth," she adds.
-averse
Anderson is as risk-averse as any other CIO, by her own admission. "I won`t change unless the vendor [of a business-critical application] can change [to run on Linux]," she says.
Anderson refers to a business migration guidance document called the Onion Diagram, first used by Ximian, to explain.
"The outer layers of the data centre are more prone to quick wins, things like file and print, Web and proxy layers," she says. "IT drives change and it has no business impact. The closer you get to the core, things like ERP applications and so on, you base change on the vendor`s ability to change."
Asked about risk avoidance strategies that other CIOs might copy, she says change would be in the context of a project already being undertaken. "Then you have an opportunity to go Linux at the core of the data centre."
Anderson expects to double the number of Linux servers next fiscal year.
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