Re: how to convince that debian is one the three major choices for a stable server environment?
Hardware platform support is a big part of it, given that the source is
for the most part available to any consulting organization to aid in the
customization and solution to problems.
On Tue, 2010-02-23 at 23:14 -0600, Stan Hoeppner wrote:
> John Hasler put forth on 2/23/2010 5:20 PM:
> > Stan writes:
> >> They want a big name vendor with big dollars in the bank backing that
> >> support contract.
> >
> > "Vendor" is the key word here. They want "vendor" support because,
> > still being stuck in the closed-source mindset, they think that only the
> > "vendor" has source and can supply full support.
If you have HP equipment, there is some nice historical alignment with
HP as having supporting Debian-based solutions for quite some time now.
http://h20338.www2.hp.com/enterprise/cache/390110-0-0-102-121.html
http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2006/060814a.html
This story help mitigate issues around pedigree and adoption rate.
Little articles like these can help them see how Linux can fit into the
enterprise, and possibly why Debian-based Linux might be so popular.
Interest here from your audience, may allow you to move below the 50K
ft. view of vendor relationships, and start to talk about things like
*package management* and its relationship to Change Management and
Operational and Enterprise Risk Management. This is often supported by
the appetite of most C-Level executives once they are listening.
> >
> >> Consultants aren't going to cut it on this playing field as they go
> >> out of business too frequently leaving customers hanging.
> >
> > A Debian consultant who goes out of business can be replaced by
> > another. A closed-source vendor who goes out of business (or simply
> > decides to stop supporting your critical program) leaves you hanging.
> > There are also Linux consulting firms that are not just one man.
>
> Absolutely correct. But that's not how CxOs think, and trying to educate
> them otherwise would likely be a losing battle...
>
One eye-opener that has *ground-level* context (everyone can relate to
in some way), is the recent rendering of Avatar on a Debian-based
platform (supported by HP of course) which brings a real story of
enterprise revenue to the world of IT strategy with Debian.
http://www.ianbmacdonald.com/wordpress/2010/01/30/avatar-powered-by-debian-based-linux
This one, besides noting that it took ~15 years for the technology to
become *ready* for the vision, is a great to frame up as an example of
how a strategy that was Debian-based offered significant opportunity in
light of any perceived risk.
> Until they start teaching these alternatives in MBA courses this CxO
> thinking will not change.
>
Hope that helps,
Ian
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