Fresh perspectives often require a radical change of view. Research scientists understand that disproving theories (even farfetched ones) often yields valuable results.
The same is true in enterprise IT. Companies get stuck in ruts and shrink from change, even when there are technical and economic motivations for forcing evolution. Legacy systems are often allowed to function (and malfunction) long past their "sell-by" date. When antiquated systems flame out, throwing the organization into chaos, the fire hoses are unfurled and/or fingers of blame are pointed. Yet when CIOs and IT administrators seek to proactively address technical issues, they often run into brick walls ranging from budgetary constraints to "if it isn"t broken (too badly), don"t fix it."
Enterprises in Hong Kong continue to contemplate (and even explore) alternative desktop operating systems. But enterprises shouldn"t consider switching to open-source alternatives simply because it is the "flavor of the month." Like any IT decision, many factors must be considered-including TCO, the organization"s corporate culture, application compatibility, licensing fees, and future requirements.
Alternative to what?
The de facto standard on corporate and personal desktops worldwide is Windows OS from Microsoft, a software company whose apex status has helped shape our modern business environment. Although MS has diversified into many other sectors, their desktop OS still represents the bulk of their business (see sidebar below, "Desktop dominance").
Browser wars revisited
However, alternatives to Microsoft"s browser software Internet Explorer (IE) are enjoying unprecedented popularity. Firefox, the Windows-compatible open-source browser published by the Mozilla Foundation, has provided the stiffest competition to IE since Netvigator in the browser wars of the 1990s. According to market researcher WebSideStory, between early December and mid-January, IE"s market share dropped 1.5 percent to 90.3 percent, while Firefox"s share rose 0.9 percent to a total of 5 percent. Other researchers have also shown IE"s market share falling since June 2004, when WebSideStory pegged it at 95.5 percent.
Firefox still appears to be maintaining the momentum of its highly publicized 1.0 launch in November 2004. But it could ultimately be stalled at a low figure by factors such as incompatibility with some Web sites. Enterprises also often build in-house applications on the proprietary Microsoft technology supported by IE. If for nothing else, IE is needed to access Microsoft"s Windows Update site (at the RSA security conference in February 2005, MS chief Bill Gates announced an upgrade to IE 7 which will "add new levels of security," according to Gates-a first beta is due in mid-2005).
Users and developers have long taken issue with IE over frequent security problems and lack of features such as pop-up blocking and tabbed browsing. Though Microsoft has steadily bricked up the gaping holes in Internet Explorer (notably via XP"s SP2, which also adds pop-up-block functionality to IE), the company refuses to abandon its browser"s Active-X technology. As Windows users come to realize that the pop-ups, unwanted toolbars, and spyware bogging down their systems are slipping in through Active-X"s permeable security, they are switching to alternative browsers in significant numbers.
Asian govt switches suites
Microsoft"s dominance in office-suite software is also under challenge. Last October, Singapore"s Ministry of Defence (MinDef) moved away from a predominantly Microsoft desktop policy by installing the open-source OpenOffice productivity software on 5,000 desktop computers. OpenOffice will not replace Microsoft Office 97 on those PCs but will exist alongside it, allowing users to choose which package to use, MinDef said in an e-mail reply to questions.
The move will be extended to all of MinDef"s 20,000 desktop PCs by March 2006. The addition of Open-Office appears to rule out the possibility that MinDef will upgrade its Microsoft Office packages to a newer version such as Office 2003. "With our limited budget, we are always exploring opportunities to maximize the value for every dollar spent," MinDef said in its reply.
Possibly heralding a bigger move away from reliance on Microsoft, MinDef said it also plans to experiment with open-source at the operating system level. "We also intend to experiment with Linux desktops, but there are no concrete plans to replace the Microsoft Windows OS on the desktops at this point in time," MinDef said.
Less developed Southeast Asian economies such as Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam have all begun to publicly encourage the use of Linux and open-source applications in preference to Microsoft products, from a desire to trim costs and to free themselves from what they perceive as dangerous reliance on a single US company. This trend dovetails with a UN-sponsored project known as the UNDP-APDIP International Open Source Network, which is "tasked specifically to facilitate and network Free/Open Source Software (FOSS) advocates and human resources in the region," according to its Web site. "The vision is that developing countries in the Asia-Pacific Region can achieve rapid and sustained economic and social development by using affordable yet effective FOSS ICT solutions to bridge the digital divide."
Microsoft responds
With entities like these advocating and/or implementing open-source alternatives to MS products, many Linux vendors claim momentum. "Once customers move to OpenOffice and Mozilla, changing the underlying OS is a no-brainer," declared Francois Bancilhon of Linux vendor MandrakeSoft SA.
But Microsoft is not impressed.
"This comment sidesteps the arguments against open-source software, which still needs to be addressed regardless of which combination of browser, office suite and OS you use," said Angela Chen, product marketing manager for Windows, Microsoft Hong Kong. "The issue is not whether you should completely adopt open-source software on your personal computer from the OS level up, but what that means to you as a commercial and individual user. The issues of compatibility, security, TCO, and many many more, are still not addressed."
"Internet Explorer is the browser of choice for hundreds of millions of people and businesses around the world," said Chen. "Microsoft is keenly aware that customers have a choice, and the appearance of competitors provides an added impetus for Microsoft to try even harder to create better products."
Inertia
Microsoft"s entrenched position means that its continued hegemony is assured in the near term. "Microsoft has their arms so firmly around most enterprises that it is going to be hard to pry them loose," said Asia-based IT consultant Ric Shreves. "Even if there are no other significant barriers to switching to a Linux desktop or Open Office, many large firms employ Exchange Server for handling mail, group communications, and shared calendaring. For them, the server systems represent significant sunk costs."
"Perhaps more importantly, there is the "fear factor"-executives start to get very nervous when you talk about changing the entire organization"s e-mail and scheduling systems," noted Shreves. "And of course, some local branches of global concerns may be tied into the parent company"s IT environment (either directly through back-office systems or indirectly through metered or distributed-use licenses), in which case the odds of the subsidiary moving without the parent company are virtually nil."
"Microsoft"s Licensing Version Six didn"t do them any favors," added Dion Wiggins, vice president and research director at Gartner Asia-Pacific. "But still, do enterprises want to invest in training and migration out of dislike for Microsoft? That"s not the right reason-there"s no business value in that."
"Enterprises face a tradeoff that must be justified in terms of both ROI and TCO," explained Shreves. "While severing commitments to paying licensing fees for desktop systems and productivity software is an attractive idea, those savings must be weighed against the costs of migration, the training of staff, and the risks to business continuity. Of course there are security implications to the decision as well, but those sorts of indirect savings tend to be very hard to quantify and justify to decision-makers."
Shreves noted that "Asia and Latin America may well present the first significant moves to open desktop systems at the enterprise level. We"re seeing strong commitments from governments in the region to move away from proprietary systems for public administration agencies. Korea moved 120,000 civil servants to Linux desktops and so far, it looks like the program has been a success. Thailand also took the lead early on and converted Open Office to the Thai language in a government initiative: the Pladao project."
"As private organizations watch these moves and persuasive case studies emerge," concluded Shreves, "open systems will start to proliferate."
Linux inquiries for Novell
"Novell Linux Desktop is a good corporate citizen in enterprise environments," said Singapore-based John Philips, corporate technology strategist for Novell. "NLD brings an OS and an office suite based on OpenOffice which is compatible with Microsoft Office documents, including font compatibility."
Philips said that the NLD suite includes "Firefox in the box," and that Novell took pains to integrate OpenOffice"s look and feel with NLD to enforce continuity within the product, which uses the Evolution mail client. "Customizing that code was simple," declared Philips, "and any changes or enhancements that we made were folded back into the OpenOffice project."
"We"ve got the main features people want in an office suite," said Philips, "including compatibility with MS office documents. He explained how Novell derives revenue from an open-source product: "Users can download the evaluation version of our [NLD] software and it will work. But just as people want insurance for their home or car, they also want value-added services for their business software. Our only charges are for maintaining packages, patches and upgrades." Philips added that his firm offers a yearly subscription model on a per-device basis.
"There"s a lot of interest in NLD among users who may not be ready to deploy right now, but are examining their options," added Philips. "They are keeping us very busy." He predicted that growth and adoption would pick up significantly over the next 2-5 years, especially among users he described as being at a "typical help-desk level," i.e. those interested in a basic suite of products (browser, spreadsheet, word-processor) rather than more specialized applications.
Sunlight and Java
The Sunray system from Sun Microsystems finds its zenith among Sun"s worldwide employees, who enjoy single-point access at Sun terminals with a two-factor authentication process. The system ensures that users retain their unique desktop environment and appropriate levels of authentication regardless of physical location. Office-suite duties are handled by Sun"s Star Office and a Java-based middleware stack that sits on top of Sun"s Solaris OS.
"The network is the computer," said Daniel Yu, president of greater China for Sun. "It"s like a television channel-it"s always on, and you use it as and when you need to." Yu said that the user"s unique profile can retain preferred printer locations or can allow users to pause presentations or videos and resume them at the remote location. But he said that the primary attraction of the system for enterprises is cost-savings.
Sun said that they enjoyed worldwide savings of over US$288 million within a year of Sunray implementation from their FY02-FY03, including savings of US$22 million in IT costs alone. "The strengths here are mobility, real estate, and the capability for collaboration," declared Yu. "Mobility means that you can access your own workspace from a computer at work, at home, or a mobile device. Real estate is where we really see some savings, especially in a market like Hong Kong where office rentals are relatively high." Yu said that Sun"s corporate clients included educational institutions and the US Navy.
"Office mobility coupled with security allows corporations and individuals to work efficiently and cost-effectively," declared Yu.
Yu said that unifying corporate desktops under Solaris has a built-in advantage: "You don"t have to worry about "Microsoft version X.X"," he said. "With Sun, nothing"s on the client side, which means the user cannot screw it up."
Linux blazes in Hong Kong
"We started our business in 1998," said Yusuf Goolamabbas, managing architect for Hong Kong-based outsource-messaging provider Outblaze. "And we"ve been using Linux since Day One." Goolamabbas noted that at that time, Windows 98 wasn"t suitable for his firm"s needs.
At work, Goolamabbas said that his firm"s engineers use Linux exclusively, while the marketing department uses Windows machines to stay in step with the firm"s 35 million users.
But Goolamabbas uses Red Hat Linux on his desktop machine at home. "My five-year-old daughter uses it without any problems," said the Outblaze IT architect. Goolamabbas remains wary of IE"s reputation for Swiss-cheese-security and bemoaned the productivity lost as users spend time "killing viruses, squashing worms and keeping out Trojan horses." He also declared that the HKSAR government could do more to promote usage of open-source software among its Netizenry. "The Hong Kong government says, "oh, everyone uses IE, but it"s not the case."
Security by obscurity
"The biggest target will always be hit," declared Wiggins. "Is Microsoft"s Windows operating system more or less secure than other OSs? Only by [virtue of] size." As Windows is the primary platform throughout the desktop world, the Gartner analyst also pointed out that there is a wider variety of anti-virus and anti-spyware software available for the Microsoft-spawned OS.
Wiggins said that as Linux gets more popular, more security breaches will occur. "Security by obscurity is a bad practice," said Wiggins. "Being small or being closed-source is obscurity."
Not everyone agrees. Many industry-watchers contend that Microsoft vulnerabilities create the need for most anti-virus and anti-spyware software in the first place. But Microsoft"s Chen feels that her firm is taking steps to shore up their products against the invading malware hordes.
"Microsoft continues to make investments in Windows XP and Internet Explorer, including significant security enhancements with Windows XP Service Pack 2 to make Web browsing safer," said Chen. "SP2 is architected to help protect users against malicious attacks and reduce unwanted content and downloads, including spyware."
Whither open-source?
The issue of desktop OSs in enterprise IT seethes with complexity. Will government-sponsored initiatives streamline open-source software for the masses? And if so, will the Hong Kong government step forward and embrace open-source as a cost-effective and secure way forward for its Netizens? Only time will tell.
But the last word belongs to the player from Redmond. "Windows XP continues to be the OS of choice on most corporate desktops in Hong Kong, delivering the stability, versatility, scalability and ease of use that companies demand from their computing platform. We continue to innovate and add features to the Windows product, via service packs and regular security patches, that ensure the most secure and reliable OS platform for the corporate environment," concluded Chen.