Midsize Businesses Not Considering Linux?

LukePieStalker writes "eWeek is running a piece about a research report which concludes that Linux is not even on the radar screen for midsize businesses. The survey involved over 1,400 executives of companies with annual revenue around $250 to $500 million. It seems that, while smaller companies may see the licensing savings as being significant, and larger companies have the expertise to manage it, bringing Linux into a midsize Windows shop creates a multiplatform organization which is prohibitively complicated and expensive to manage. Unfortunately, companies of this size comprise the bulk of American business. Quote: "Linux is free, but the support for it is not.""

Comments

Bullshit

[Fefe]

I have professional dealins with many a mid-size company, and every single one of them has had some network service running under Linux somewhere.

It might be true that the management doesn't know, though.

Bulk of US Business

[joelgrimes]

Unfortunately, companies of this size comprise the bulk of American business

I think that is incorrect. No matter how you measure it, small businesses are a larger component of the economy.

• Represent more than 99.7 percent of all employers.
• Employ more than half of all private sector employees
• Pay 44.5 percent of total U.S. private payroll.
• Generate 60 to 80 percent of net new jobs annually.
• Create more than 50 percent of nonfarm private gross domestic product (GDP).
• Produce 13 to 14 times more patents per employee than large patenting firms. These patents are twice as likely as large firm patents to be among the one percent most cited.
• Are employers of 39 percent of high tech workers (such as scientists, engineers, and computer workers ) .
• Are 53 percent home-based and 3 percent franchises.
• Made up 97 percent of all identified exporters and produced 29 percent of the known export value in FY 2001.

4 year old stats, but I don't think it's changed

link

Re:Something to Think About

[sphealey]

> But I find it hard to believe that they are
> not considering Linux.

We are. I would love to convert our shop to all-Linux tomorrow.

Problem is, mid-sized business use midrange apps. E.g. Forth Shift, Visual Manufacturing, etc. Which were written in the late 80s/early 90s. For the Windows API.

Changing out a business management system is no trivial task for a midsized company, and not undertaken lightly. If and when these midrange vendors compile Linux versions (web-based really doesn't work for high-volume ERP transactions), then we can look at moving to Linux. But unfortunately not before.

sPh

minor quibble

[scruffyMark]

So to sum it up, 27 percent already use Linux and of those who don't more than half are interested in it, while an other 15 percent are not sure.

Not quite right.
100 % total - 27 % with linux = 73 % without
of whom 100 % total - 48 % not interested - 15 % unsure = only 37 % of those without linux are interested
73 % without linux x 37 % of them interested = 27 % without linux but interested

I agree with your general point though - 27 % use linux, and a further 27 % are interested in it. 54 % are either using linux or interested it it. That hardly qualifies as "off the radar"