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Why Novell's internal migration to Linux desktops is a landmark2005.03.23
By Joe Barr
SourceSALT LAKE CITY -- There have been so many announcements, so much activity, such a hurried pace to the Brainshare 2005 conference that I think many may have overlooked the big story. It was thrown out in an almost offhand manner during Novell CEO Jack Messman's keynote address on Monday: Longtime Microsoft partner Novell is migrating all of its own 6,000 Windows desktops to Linux.
I asked to speak to an executive who could tell me about the migration, and CIO Debra Anderson was kind enough to make herself available in spite of her own hectic schedule to tell the tale.
The migration began last summer. Actually the first phase began the previous year, with the move from Microsoft Office to OpenOffice.org. Anderson set an ambitious goal for that first phase: She wanted to migrate 90 percent of MS Office users to OOo in three months. They almost made that goal, too, with 85 percent migrated during that time frame. There were lessons to be learned from those who couldn't migrate, and feedback to the OOo developers got work started on removing some of the tougher obstacles. (Note: I've heard unconfirmed reports that Novell has hired a number of OOo developers since then.)
Main migration began last year
The main Linux migration began last summer, with 120 volunteers from the Novell workforce stepping up to start, even before the release of Novell Linux Desktop. Once again, Anderson set an ambitious goal: She wanted 50 percent of the Novell workforce running on Linux desktops by October. They made this one, and the 50 percent were all volunteers.
Anderson pointed out that the company's belief in the move -- and by company, we are not talking about only top management but rank-and-file Novell employees, as demonstrated by the large number of volunteers who stepped forward -- has made her task easier than it would be for other CIOs at other firms.
Novell's fiscal year begins in November, and the goal for desktop migration during the current fiscal year is just as high as for earlier ones -- 80 percent to be migrated by year's end. Why not 100 percent? Because of lessons learned during the migration thus far. The key lesson is that Linux is not ready to handle all the functionality performed on Windows desktops today. However, a significant percentage has already been migrated -- significant as in $900,000 savings in MS Office and MS Windows licensing fees for Novell last year. And those savings will continue to accrue year by year by year.
Today, new desktops at Novell are Linux desktops. They have canceled their contracts with Microsoft for Windows desktops. And once again, just was the case with the OOo migration, the tough problems are fed back to appropriate developers for sizing and solving.
Hours, not days, for training
Training is always a topic of concern when Linux migration is discussed. I asked Anderson how many days of training were required to convert former Windows users to productive Linux users. She corrected me, saying it's not a matter of how many days of training are required, but how many hours.
The training consists of differences in usability; an understanding of the differences between the Linux kernel and Windows XP is not required. How to open and close windows, start and stop applications, and logging in and out are the types of things being taught in Novell's migration training.
Additional help is available if needed, of course, and there are reference cards available on the Internet to help users learn how to do in OOo what they used to do in MS Office. Anderson said a part of their intranet called "The Open Zone" contains additional information and a FAQ to further aid employees when questions arise. She says that the "The Open Zone" is the second most popular destination on their intranet.
Why do I think this is the big story of Brainshare 2005? Because the repercussions from this migration are going to be felt far beyond Novell's own corporate desktops. Because the process will uncover and remove obstacles to migration as it goes forward. Because at the end of the road, a path will have been blazed that other large corporations can follow.
Anderson is the second Novell executive to tell me that there will be other migration announcements made before Novell finishes its own. Neither could or would say more than that, but it appears to me that 2005 -- finally -- is going to be the year of the Linux desktop's arrival in corporate America.
Links
1. "Brainshare 2005" - [
www.novell.com]
2. "Novell" - [
www.newsforge.com]