IBM hails Linux as turning point for Middle East Technology Independence
SourceIn the space of only five short years, the open source Linux operating system has gone from a technical topic only generally seen in academic, scientific or supercomputing circles to the world’s fastest growing operating system for government, enterprises and small and medium businesses.
Its importance to the Middle East region was confirmed at the IBM-hosted seminar series that finished in Dubai today, after visiting Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait, where large, enthusiastic audiences discussed issues around adopting open source software, and customising for local application in Arabic.
The event highlights were keynote addresses by Rob K Lamb, IBM's Worldwide Director of Linux sales (who flew to the Middle East especially for this event), and Dr Khaled Ghoniem, Chairman of the Saudi Computer Society.
"Why Linux? Freedom of choice, vendor independence, maximise ROI," was the core of Rob Lamb's presentation. "We believe that no one vendor can possibly have all the answers, and the only reasonable way to ensure that our customers can avoid vendor lock-in, and maintain the flexibility needed to rapidly incorporate products and technologies based on value and not on proprietary constraints, is through open standards."
As technical skill levels in the Middle East steadily rise, there is a growing case for the region to become a technology developer and innovator, rather than a consumer of technologies developed elsewhere. Because Linux is open-source, it allows developers and engineers in this region to customise it for their requirements, and develop new technologies that can, in turn be shared with the rest of the world through the open source community.
"We've seen our customers do some incredible things with Linux already," said Bashar Kilani, Software Group Manager for IBM Middle East, Egypt and Pakistan. "One of the most powerful supercomputers in the world is running on Linux in Saudi Arabia, and several of our banking customers have migrated key systems to the platform. In a new, global economy where the Middle East can take its place as an equal player, open source reduces dependence on a particular software provider, and opens the doors of a local software development industry."
The business reasons to examine Linux are clear. Apart from the freedom to choose a hardware platform that fits an organisation's needs best, Linux has massive cost advantages. According to a study by the Robert Francis Group in 2002, in the first year of ownership, Linux cost $50 000, Sun's Solaris $422 000, Windows $92 000. After three years these figures increase to $74 000, $562 000 and $191 000 respectively. The clear total cost of ownership advantages of Linux are matched by its now firmly established reputation for security and reliability.
IBM made a firm commitment to Linux two years ago, and today over 200 IBM software products run on this operating system, including Tivoli, DB2, Lotus, WebShpere, and Rational, as well as host of development tools. IBM offers Linux on all of its enterprise platforms, including its mainframe servers.
This support for Linux is not only at the high end: for the smaller business, IBM's "Express" offerings of its data management, collaboration, systems management and Web services software are all available on Linux.
In the application development space, IBM has contributed over $40 million worth of product code to the open source community as the foundation for Eclipse, an open source integrated (software) development environment. IBM also contributed to the evolution of the J2EE specification and provided the base for XQuery, the Worldwide Web Consortium's (W3C) specification for a query language for XML.This year alone, IBM won the "Best Development Tool" and "Best Data Storage Solution" awards at LinuxWorld for WebSphere Studio and Tivoli.
References of famous companies using Linux already abound, including Sony UK, weather.com, Korean Air, Safeway and British Telecom.
In the Middle East, the most famous case study is the Egyptian museum's multimedia handheld "Digital Guides" for visitors, which is based on IBM's Digital Media technology running on Linux.
"It is exactly one year since we had our extremely successful Linux symposium in Bahrain, the first major Linux event in the Middle East. Then we were talking to organisations that were very interested in Linux as a potential technology for them. This year we've moved on so far: we're now talking implementation and development issues to enterprises and governments that already have production Linux systems running. Its momentum in the region is unstoppable, and we believe it this event today marks the turning point in the region's use and creation of new technologies," concluded Kilani.
Related Information:
FAST FACTS: • There are 4,800+ Linux applications in IBM Global Solutions Directory with over 2500 having IBM Software content • 34,000 Windows and Intel developers are now working with IBM software to build Linux applications • 23% of developers in internationally are currently writing Linux applications • 48% say they will absolutely or probably write Linux applications in 2003 • 5,000 IBM employees working on Linux; IBM is leader in investment/commitment in Linux • IBM uses Linux internally itself, with 1,400+ Production Servers worldwide About IBM IBM is the world’s largest information technology company, with 80 years of leadership in helping businesses innovate. IBM offers a wide range of services, solutions and technologies that enable telecommunications service providers and equipment suppliers to take full advantage of the new era of e-business. For more information on IBM, visit [
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