Open enterprise needs open minds

The question of whether open source software is ready for the enterprise is complex. Parts of the open source smorgasbord are already ready for enterprise deployment - in fact, they always have been. Other parts of open source will never be ready for the enterprise, and never have to be.

Even asking the question denotes a misunderstanding of what open source is, and a hazy comprehension of the software industry as a whole. The same question, when placed at the door of proprietary technology, will get you much the same answer: it depends on the product.

Linux, with its roots in Unix, has been an enterprise product from the start, pipping Microsoft to the post by a matter of years. As the product continually evolves, it meets the ever-growing needs of enterprise - just like proprietary software.

TuxRacer, the predominant time-waster shipped with most Linux distributions, is not enterprise-ready. It doesn`t have to be. Neither is Spider Solitaire or Minesweeper.

Hence the argument comes down to how you view open source software. Somewhere along the way, this community-based branch of software development acquired an umbrella definition - and umbrella expectations - while proprietary software still reaps the benefit of independent analysis on a per-vendor and per-product basis when being considered for enterprise deployment.

Remember that open source software is just that: software. It has bugs, benefits, competitors and code like any proprietary program. And its readiness must be judged against the same yardstick that all software should be judged by.

With the industry as a whole labouring under this misunderstanding, the question should not be whether open source software is ready for enterprise, but whether South African enterprise is ready for open source.

The biggest requirement for anyone moving to open source software is an open mind.

Muggie van Staden, MD, Obsidian Systems

"So is enterprise ready for open source?" We asked Muggie van Staden, MD of Obsidian Systems.

"It`s as if they have a mental block," he replies. "The biggest requirement for anyone making a move to open source software is an open mind. I don`t think that enterprise in SA has that. There`s a lot of 'FUD` [fear, uncertainty and doubt] spread around by vendors out there to create the impression that it is not ready."

Internationally, enterprises happily roll-out Linux and other open source products in production environments, where it makes sense for them to do so. Oracle is one such company, having consolidated its 112 e-mail systems serving over 50 000 employees to three - all running Linux. Oracle`s flamboyant Larry Ellison publicly stated in 2002 that the whole business would run on Linux. Even Oracle`s products are developed on Linux systems, making it the platform of choice for Oracle servers.

"We use Linux internally, and have realised that it is a robust operating system, and we`ve realised cost savings from rolling it out. It`s a good operating system, in terms of satisfying performance needs," says Oracle country manager of sales and consulting, Mohamed Cassoojee.

One of the drivers behind Oracle`s push for Linux is its belief that monolithic mainframes are on their way out, and clustered systems built on cheap hardware will be the order of the day. (And not only chief Ellison`s public distaste for competitor Microsoft.) Cassoojee says enterprises in SA are running Oracle on clustered environments, based on Linux, today.

But while Oracle supports open source - having taken a particular liking to Apache and Linux in particular - it faces a potential competitor in the form of open source databases.

"The current versions of enterprise databases have a lot more features built in," says Cassoojee. "To use the open source software databases, you need to be able to put the components together yourself, and maintain the working of those components. There`s still some time before open source databases reach our level. It will also take a while before enterprise starts trusting open source database systems for their critical business data. We don`t expect it to happen in the short-term, and if it does happen it won`t be competing with our main business."

Getting open source into enterprise is about more than product, support and staff. Open source`s biggest enemy is itself and the image that it has traditionally chosen to adopt, embodied by the geeky technologist.

Linux is a good operating system, in terms of satisfying performance needs.

Mohamed Cassojee, country manager, sales and consulting, Oracle

The CIO - more likely boasting a financial than technical background nowadays - wants to engage with those on his level. Long-haired, T-shirt-wearing, hippy coders aren`t welcome in the boardroom.

Open source developers have, for the most part, not been too interested in enterprise`s needs, both on a marketing and product front. Only now that there`s some big money backing open source is there a renewed interest in addressing both these concerns. In terms of product, open source is getting back to its roots. For marketing, this is all new ground.

According to Inus Gouws, a senior information management consultant at Computer Associates Africa, the adoption of open source software by South African businesses has risen dramatically over the last six months, fuelled by the efforts of Mark Shuttleworth and the Go-Open Foundation, among others, to raise awareness for the open source movement.

"At the same time we need to encourage open source pioneers to become more commercial and less introspective in their approach to promoting their strategies for the future," says Gouws.

"Marketing is open source`s biggest challenge," says Van Staden. "A lot of people have been working for many years now to rectify that: to make it more friendly for business.

"Organisations like Red Hat, Mandrake, SUSE - they`re businesses. They can speak at any level. You do still have elements out there that do the shorts and T-shirt thing, but that goes to my point about keeping an open mind. Just because the sales person is in a suit and tie, should I buy the product?"

Beyond marketing, beyond skills and beyond product is an underlying concern for all businesses that rely on IT to stay in business: that of a framework that includes policy, due diligence, piloting, deployment and maintenance of a solution. This is perhaps the root of the biggest concern regarding open source in enterprise.

People need to stop talking and start doing.

Muggie van Staden, MD, Obsidian Systems

"There are some frameworks, such as those from Red Hat for moving from Unix to Linux," says Van Staden, "but if you`re migrating from one thing to another you still use the same framework. Everyone wants to change the rules just because it`s open source. You apply the same business rules to open source as you would any software."

Ask Novell`s Stafford Masie about management frameworks and he gets very excited. Novell has made no big secret that this is its strategy: Masie has been working on Itel and Cobit standards for Novell`s products, including SUSE, for some months now. He`s committed to a national, on-site support service throughout SA through Choice Sourcing, and has already established a call centre for business and retail customers.

IBM is also gearing up for some serious open source backup to companies wanting to test the waters, with a Linux Centre of Competence planned locally - the fourteenth such Big Blue centre worldwide.

It`s also put Linux down as one of its big plays locally, which translates to IBM planning to dominate this space completely in the market. IBM Global Services will back its customers on the open source route.

It`s this kind of support that should assure enterprise that Linux is ready for business.

"I don`t know why people are still having conferences around this question - they need to stop talking and start doing. Companies in SA are running it in big environments. Enterprises around the world are running their companies on open source," says Van Staden. So open source is ready.

The question is: is your business ready to accept it?

Many of the current arguments against open source revolve around skills availability and support.

While this may have been the case two years ago, when it was often suggested to companies to use "the community" as a support base, the tide is shifting. For instance:

* Oracle has stepped up to offer 24-hour support for its products on Linux.
* Novell offers support for its SUSE distribution as well as its ever-growing portfolio of traditional Netware products that it`s been busy porting over.
* IBM`s global services will be more than happy to sell a support contract.

In addition, skills certification seems to be picking up, with an unprecedented 325 exams written by over 200 Linux professionals during a mass certification event in February.

"Open source skills are less available than some other skills," admits Oracle`s Cassoojee, "but training courses and certification have picked up. There`s always been an undercurrent of Unix and Linux skills in the country. In any IT department there is someone who has been playing with it unofficially."