IBM Scores Yet Another Linux Win

Demand for Linux on the mainframe continues to grow, with IBM notching another win on its eServer mainframe. The latest: Korean Air is moving its Flight Schedule Enquiry System and its Daily Revenue Accounting System to Linux on IBM hardware and software.

Korean Air is implementing IBMs WebSphere and Tivoli systems through an eServer z900 mainframe running Linux. The system gives more than 3,000 pilots and flight attendants online, real-time flight information. Korean Air is also developing a Linux-based accounting system and plans to open its back-end systems to business partners to widen its sales channel.

“We decided to deploy our flight scheduling systems on Linux because we were able to consolidate workloads that had been running on a variety of different servers,” said Yong-Seung Hwang, CIO at Korean Air, in Seoul, Korea.

Joann Duguid, IBMs director of Linux for zSeries, said she is seeing strong interest from the companys top clients in running Linux. “Linux is enterprise-ready, and some of our top customers are running it in production in mission-critical environments. As the trend continues toward multiple platforms that interoperate seamlessly, demand for Linux will grow. By offering customers a Linux solution on the mainframe, we are expanding their level of choice,” said Duguid, in Armonk, N.Y.

This customer win follows IBMs deal with Winnebago Industries Inc., which recently announced it was deploying an e-mail platform based on an IBM eServer running Linux.

Last year, IBM scored an offshore Linux coup. In December, Telia—Scandinavias largest telecommunications and Internet provider—said it would replace its Sun Microsystems Inc. Web servers with one IBM mainframe S/390 G6 enterprise server in a deal estimated at about $3 million. Telia is also replacing its EMC Corp. storage servers with one IBM Shark storage server.