12 Nov 2008 16:34
With the economy uncertain and Microsoft Vista failing to gain overwhelming acceptance, many IT departments are considering a migration to Linux.
But what happens when the average IT department doesn't take its time examining the pros and cons before making the migration?
Although, I find Linux to be far superior to Windows, certain criteria must be considered before making the switch. Otherwise, you may find yourself having to go back to square one. If you're considering a migration to Linux, be sure to answer these 10 questions first.
1. Will that proprietary, mission-critical application run on the new platform?
One of the first things I tell people who are considering a migration is: "Yes, most probably there is a Linux equivalent to the application you use." Photoshop? Use Gimp. Adobe Reader? Use Scribus.
However, there are certain instances where an application has been written specifically for a purpose — or company — and does not have a cross-platform equivalent. In this case, you could try running your application with Wine, or you could run a virtual instance of Windows to get the app running. But this takes time and effort and, in some cases, isn't as stable as one would like — especially in the case of Wine.
If you have mission-critical applications that were created for the Windows environment (and only the Windows environment), your best bet is to avoid migrating those systems that make use of the proprietary software. Of course, if the proprietary software is web-based, you can probably go ahead, because Firefox is on par with Internet Explorer.
2. Which desktop are you planning to use?
This is not a question that most people have to face. With Windows and Mac OS X, you have one desktop metaphor. With Linux, the desktop choices are vast. If you select the wrong desktop, you could wind up with a lot of confused users. However, the decision isn't difficult really.
If your users are accustomed to Mac OS X, the best choice is Gnome. If your users are accustomed to Windows XP, your best choice is KDE 3.5.x. If your users are accustomed to Windows Vista, your best choice is KDE 4.x (although be sure to skip the .0 release and go straight to .1 or better).
The Linux desktop goes well beyond the Windows and Mac OS X metaphors. You could really stretch your imagination, and create a desktop specific to your company.
However, the point is that, when considering a migration, you must take into account your users and which desktop they would be most comfortable with.
3. Is your IT department up to the task?
One of the biggest mistakes made with a Linux-migration decision is assuming that IT staff can make the transition from one operating system to another without any extra training or help.
IT staff may know a great deal about Windows but that doesn't mean they know their way around Linux well enough to administer a system or network of Linux boxes.
If you're planning a migration from one operating system to another, find out the level of knowledge your IT staff has about the new operating system. If they don't have enough knowledge, there will be trouble both during and after the migration.
We always like to think our IT department is well-versed in every technology used today. The reality is that most IT professionals are well-versed in what they need to know to get the job done. If Linux isn't part of getting the job done, they may not have the necessary knowledge.
Of course, many IT administrators use Linux in other instances, such as at home, and will at least have a foundation to build upon.
4. Does your corporate headquarters get a benefit from Microsoft?
Many companies and institutions benefit from using the Windows operating system in ways that are not immediately obvious.
For instance, some universities can offer students large discounts on software, such as Visual Studio and Office, because they deploy hundreds of instances of Windows desktops across the campus. Without these installations, there would be no software discounts. So making the migration in such a case would be disastrous for those who benefit.
Of course, if your institution uses and supports Linux, the software would all be free, negating the need for any discount.
5. Do your employees use a lot of removable media?
Linux has come a long way with removable media, but there are still instances where handling removable media is not as simple as it is in Windows. The automount system doesn't always work as seamlessly as users might be accustomed to.
Consider removable thumb drives. In many of the modern Linux distributions, it's a simple matter of inserting the drive and having…
…the USB sub-system automatically detect the insertion and ask whether you want to view the contents in a new window. Most of the time, viewing the contents in a new window mounts the device for you.
Once you are done with the device, you just have to follow through with the 'safely remove' action your desktop demands. Without this 'safely remove' action, your data most probably will not be written to the device.
If you have users who employ removable media often, you will want to make sure you deploy a distribution that has a more seamless removable-media system, such as Mandriva. Otherwise, skip the migration.
6. Is your hardware supported?
Generally speaking, this isn't such an issue any longer. However, for larger corporations that try to cut costs by going with cheaper hardware, it can still be a big concern.
Most often, the suspect hardware will be an onboard video card. Normally, that would be a cheap fix but, when your company is looking at migrations of more than 100 machines, replacing video cards can be a costly endeavour.
There are other issues to consider here. Deploying laptops will be the biggest hurdle. Will your wireless card work? Will video work? Will sound work? Hibernation/suspend could easily be the deal-breaker.
Fortunately, the Linux operating system benefits from the LiveCD phenomenon, so you can download an ISO image, boot from the LiveCD and find out, at first hand, whether your hardware is supported. If it isn't, you have your answer.
7. Are you using Active Directory?
If your organisation is large enough to require Active Directory, it is important to realise that the process of migrating from Active Directory to OpenLDAP is unwieldy, and some Active Directory functionality is not compatible with OpenLDAP.
This does not necessarily mean Active Directory is superior to OpenLDAP.
If you have an enterprise-level Active Directory deployment and you're looking to migrate to the same size OpenLDAP deployment, you can manage it with pwdump2 and ActiveState Perl. But don't expect the migration to be a simple execution of a single command or the click of a button. This is one migration criterion that should be the focus of an IT meeting or two before a decision is made.
8. Do you outsource your helpdesk support?
Many larger companies pay to outsource helpdesk support. If this is the case for your company, you would be well advised to do a little research before you make the move to Linux.
If your company plans on migrating to Linux via Ubuntu (Canonical), Red Hat or Suse (Novell) Linux, you're in luck and can purchase support. If you go with a different distribution — for example, Debian — you won't find nearly the same level of help. There are other sources of support, such as mailing lists, but you will not get the same level of support that you are accustomed to.
9. Are you subject to licensing fees for software?
If you pay for contract licences for security software, you're going to be out of that money, because you probably won't need to deploy those services.
There are a number of security services you simply won't need when the migration is complete. If you're still paying for a contract, it would be best to manage the migration so that it coincides with the contract expiration.
10. Do some of your employees fit the Linux user experience more than others?
This is where you can control a partial migration, and do it intelligently and effectively.
There are most certainly employees in your company who fit the bill for the migration. For example, some of your employees may do only web-browser work; they will be perfect candidates for migration because, on the user level, web browsers do not differ much. For such employees, the migration will, for the most part, be totally transparent.
You could also consider users who mostly do office-suite work, such as word-processing or spreadsheet tasks. For them, the difference between OpenOffice and Microsoft Office will be mostly aesthetic.
On the other hand, there will be users who would not be good targets for migration, such as those using proprietary software.
Proceed with caution
Clearly, a migration of this magnitude deserves careful consideration and study. Evaluating these criteria before migrating to Linux could possibly save you from disaster. After all, in this economy, an IT disaster could spell corporate failure.
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