Linux Now 25% of Dell's Server Business

Sam Haine '95 writes to mention a ZDNet article discussing Linux's place in the server market, at least for Dell Computers. Linux now makes up over 25% of the company's server business, and has become such a standard that they only need to confer with Red Hat for some 10% of service calls. From the article: "Linux and open source have been a blessing for Dell as it has struggled to make an impression, other than as a desktop and laptop supplier, in enterprise computing, According to Martin Hingley, vice-president of the European Systems Group at analysts IDC, part of the problem for Dell in the enterprise is that 'people don't like partnering with Dell.'"

Comments

Re:OpenManaged and the No OS option

[truthsearch]

So I'd say that Linux probably accounts for closer to 30-40%, if not even 50% of Dell's server sales.

They probably don't want to sound like they're exaggerating the Linux install base and anger their biggest partner. So they only state the stats that Microsoft can't possibly dispute.

Re:Bad news for Red Hat?

[tomhudson]

Its a win-win situation. As we would say:

1. Dell can handle 90% of all service calls for linux directly, so they can confidently offer more linux products.
2. Offering more products grows the market, meaning that the 10% of service calls that RedHat gets also grows larger.
3. PROFIT!

Skewed a bit

[chill]

I know that when we order servers from Dell they are ordered w/o operating systems as we install Debian. We order about 15 a month, not a lot but here is the point: when we order and choose the operating system, there are two "no operating system" options -- No OS Microsoft Windows and No OS Red Hat Linux. It defaults to No OS Microsoft Windows and I know our admin person doing the auditing never changes it.

I would not be surprised to learn that the server sales are higher than they think.

  -Charles

do they count my server?

[Russ Nelson]

I nuked the DOS that my server came with, and replaced it with Linux. Does that 25% count my server? I expect not, nor many others.

I gave up on Dell

[Anon-Admin]

I ditched dell when I called support. 50+ laptops to set up, and all of them were blue screening when you plugged in the USB port replicator.

Dell's support suggested reinstalling the OS from the supplied CD. I did it and it still blue screened.

Dell's response

"Well, if reinstalling the OS did not solve the problem. You need to reformat the drive and reinstall the OS."

What a solution.

It is good to see them claming support of Linux, the question is will there support be better than it has been?

Re:Does that really mean admins are using Linux?

[Cheeze]

tired argument.

I don't think anyone in their right mind would pay $799 (or something like that) for RedHat enterprise and then delete it, and install a pirate copy of windows. Businesses are always on the BSA radar.

Re:correction

[jrock-jr]

I would also venture a guess and say that the 25% they're talking about here are the servers they've sold that come pre-installed with Redhat. We buy our servers from Dell without an OS, but we still use linux.

Re:Sad for others

[mcrbids]

Dell keeps growing while other companies are missing the mark. Basically, companies like Leveno announce that they will not support linux (only to retract it, for whatever reason; I would bet that Leveno lose more than 10% of their business just over that remark and retraction). And of course, small to medium size computer companies have the opportunities to grow in size by moving into Linux esp on the desktop (an area that Dell forsakes). But they would rather take the fork that everybody else does.

You think that one comment will affect sales by 10%? You're kidding, right?

People don't pay any attention to providers until/unless it's time to buy. A very small percentage of Lenovo's customers even know about the remark. Certainly less than the 10% needed to affect their sales that much. And in two weeks, that comment is off the table, out of social memory, and won't affect their sales at all.

Think about it: Apple's Mac vs. PC ads are very popular, trendy, and effective. How many times have you seen them? It takes repetition to drive the message, ANY message home. How many times did you cover polynomials in school?

Over and over. Eventually, it sorta takes home by osmosis. A single comment means jack.