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Big Data
More than 75 percent of respondents to a Linux Foundation survey said they have concerns about their organization’s ability to handle the ongoing explosion of “big data.” Solving the problem involves more than simply adding more storage; organizations need to invest in better overall management and care of their data.
Cloud Computing
More than 61 percent of organizations cited cloud-based applications, whether public, private or hybrid. Of those users in the cloud, 66 percent are using Linux as their primary platform, up 4.7 percent from last year. Going forward, 34.9 percent of organizations are planning to migrate more applications to the cloud, an increase from 26 percent last year.
Virtualization
The decade-long growth of virtualization on x86 platforms is also clearly reflected in the annual Linux Foundation survey, with 72 percent of organizations expecting to have 25 percent or more of their servers virtualized by year’s end. More than 46 percent of organizations expect to have 50 percent or more of their platforms virtualized by the end of 2012, an 18 percent increase over last year.
Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
70 percent of respondents listed TCO as a key driver for the adoption of Linux in their enterprise environment.
Features
In the survey, 68.6 percent of respondents said the features and technical superiority of Linux is a key driver to adoption of the operating system in their enterprise environment.
Security
The survey also found that 63.6 percent of respondents cited Linux security as a key reason for adoption of these operating systems in the enterprise.
Talent
The report showed that 52.7 percent of respondents to the Linux Foundation survey cited the availability of in-house talent with Linux experience as a key driver for Linux adoption in the enterprise.
No Vendor Lock-in
The Linux Foundation survey found that 52.5 percent of respondents cited the lack of vendor lock-in as a key driver for the adoption of Linux in the enterprise.
Openness
The report also found that 50.8 percent of respondents cited Linux’s openness and the ability to modify code as a key driver for the adoption of the operating system in the enterprise.
Long-term Viability
In addition, 47.5 percent of respondents to the Linux Foundation survey cited the potential long-term viability of the Linux platform as a key driver for the adoption of the operating system in the enterprise.
Choice of Software
The Linux Foundation survey found that 38.5 percent of respondents cited choice of software as a key driver for the adoption of the operating system in the enterprise.
Hardware Choice
Finally, 37.1 percent of respondents to the Linux Foundation survey cited choice of hardware as a key driver for the adoption of the operating system in the enterprise.
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A recent Linux Foundation survey shows that open-source technology is poised for continued growth among new and existing users for a variety of reasons, including lower total cost of ownership, technical features and security. The survey, released in January, is entitled “Linux Adoption Trends 2012: A Survey of Enterprise End Users,” and is co-written by the Linux Foundation and the Yeoman Technology Group. The survey shows that affinity among new and veteran Linux users continues to increase at the expense of Windows and Unix. Of the businesses surveyed, 84 percent of the IT shops currently deploying Linux have expanded its usage during the last 12 months, and continue to rely on it as their preferred platform for “greenfield” deployments, as well as for mission-critical applications. According to the Linux Foundation, part of this growth is due to Linux’s role in two of today’s biggest IT trends: supporting the increasing level of “big data” and achieving productivity and security gains with virtualization and cloud computing. Enterprise Linux users show steady progress on all of these fronts and a clear preference for Linux as the foundation for these trends.