Articles
12.02.2007
IBM's New Open Client Offering to Cut Costs
On Sunday the officials from IBM stated that the company is going to launch an open desktop software system for businesses. Thus it will allow to put the managing costs of both Linux and Apple computers on a more equal basis with Windows software designed by Microsoft. According to IBM's representatives, the new software is to improve the economics of alternatives for Windows operating system.
IBM named its new product "Open Client Offering". The product pulls together the software developed by IBM in-house and with its partners: Novell Inc. and Red Hat Inc. to provide clear answers on questions regarding cost-effectiveness of managing both desktop PCs of Linux and Apple alongside Microsoft's Windows PCs.
The representatives of IBM also mentioned that the company's new software will allow businesses to offer their employees a choice to use the same software on Windows, Linux or Apple Macintosh on their desktop PCs. By creating a software that can be used on all Windows alternatives, IBM hopes to cut costs of managing those alternatives relative to Microsoft's product.
Open Client is to chip away in long-term Windows franchise by allowing businesses to save money. This is because there will be no necessity of purchasing from Microsoft licenses for operations that are no longer relying on Windows-based software. The decision to create Open Client came after corporate decision-makers began stumbling upon the idea of upgrading Microsoft's Windows Vista.
Apart from Microsoft, IBM will provide its own software entitled Open Document Format (ODF) for word processing, presentation, together with Lotus collaboration, instant messaging and blog tools, and Firefox - the biggest competitor to Internet Explorer.
Scott Handy, who is the Vice President of Worldwide Linux for IBM, said that the company believes its new software will save money for business that use not just Windows but other software as well. He mentioned that Gartner and IDC- technology market researchers, estimated that businesses pay from $ 4,000 to $ 6,000 to manage every office employee's desktop PC.
IBM looks forward to install its software on 5 percent of desktop computers across the company's branches around the world. To note that the company now employs about 320,000 staff worldwide. Among them there are customer call centers as well as software development groups located in Brazil, India, Europe and some other offices of the company.
Open Client will be available late this year. A part of IBM's new software is called Expeditor. It enables a company to manage various systems like a unified underlying system.
PSA Peugeot Citroen, the second largest automaker in Europe, last month made a multi-year deal with Novell (provider of Linux). The automaker is to run Linux on 20,000 desktop PCs as well as 2,500 server computers. Mr. Handy outlined that the deal will be supported by the Open Client Offering software.
Stephen O'Grady, an analyst from RedMonk (research firm), stated that no one will significantly damage the desktop domination that Microsoft has. He said that today there's a tendency of using Windows alternatives which has nothing to do with displacing its wholesale.
On Sunday the representatives of International Business Machines Inc. said that the company will launch its new desktop software system for businesses. IBM's new product is called “Open Client Offering”. The company hopes that its product will put Macintosh or Linux software on a more equal footing with Windows.

The Open Client Offering software was developed by IBM in-house, as well as with partners like Novell Inc. and Red Hat Inc. It is to answer the questions regarding the cost-effectiveness of managing Linux or Apple desktop personal computers alongside Windows PCs. 

IBM officials stated that Open Client Offering will allow enterprises to use the same software on  Windows, Linux or Apple's OS X. It will be unnecessary for companies using Open Client to pay Microsoft for licenses for operations because these will no longer rely on Windows-based software.

Scott Handy, IBM's vice president of Linux and open source, stated that the company worked together with the open source community and in the end found a way to develop a software that is able to function regardless of the operating system.

To create an alternative to Microsoft, IBM is going to offer Open Document Format software that the company developed for word processing, spreadsheets or presentations, instant messaging and blog tools and Internet Explorer's long time rival – Firefox Web browser. 

The software developers at IBM believe that the usage of Open Client Offering can cut the cost of managing applications as well as maintenance and cost regarding customer support on company networks that require other software rather than Windows.

PSA Peugeot Citroen, being the second largest car manufacturer, signed a multi-year agreement with Novell, which is the provider of Linux software, to run Linux on its 20,000 desktop PCs. In addition Linux will be installed on 2,500 server computers.      
   
RedMonk's analyst, Stephen O'Grady, said that today there is a strong appetite for Windows alternatives. However, he said, this doesn't mean that the alternatives are to displace Windows wholesales. O'Grady outlined that no one is going to significantly damage the desktop dominance of Microsoft.