Selling Linux and Open Source to Bean Counters

Selling Linux and Open Source to Bean Counters

Jan 30, 2006
1 minute read
eWeek content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More

Im no bean-counter. Im an IT guy. But, I know that over the last few years, its CFOs and dollars, not CIOs and gigabytes, that determine what technology companies buy.

But, heres news you can use to get your CFO on board with a Linux and open-source makeover.

ETrade Financial saved $13 million a year and they realized a boost in performance by switching to Linux from Solaris.

Now, $13 million isnt chicken feed, even to a company like ETrade that reported $1.7 billion of revenue in 2005.

It wasnt just Linux that made the difference, though. It was also the Apache Web server and the Jakarta Tomcat JSP (Java Server Pages) servlet system.

In another eWEEK ETrade story, ETrades VP of architecture, Lee Thompson, said, “the Red Hat 7.2 kernel came out, which had support for SMP (symmetric multi-processing) and a 32-bit message queue for shared memory. And, all of a sudden, our application booted.”

That, however, was only the first part of the story. Its what ETrade did next that many would-be corporate Linux supporters fail at.

/zimages/1/28571.gifRead the full story on Linux-Watch: Selling Linux and Open Source to bean counters

/zimages/1/28571.gifCheck out eWEEK.coms for the latest open-source news, reviews and analysis.

eWeek Logo

eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site's focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

Property of TechnologyAdvice. © 2026 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.