Ubuntu: Enterprise Management Getting Easier?
Are Ubuntu servers and desktops easy for enterprises to manage? Before you answer, consider some recent and upcoming moves involving Bomgar, Kaseya, Likewise Software, Groundwork Open Source and Canonical itself. Here are some observations.
During most of 2009, Canonical kept polishing Landscape — a remote management platform for Ubuntu servers, desktops, mobile devices and even cloud environments. Originally, Landscape was offered only as a SaaS (software as a service) platform. But by mid-2009, Canonical introduced Landscape Dedicated Server — an on-premise solution.
Making Their Moves
Fast forward to the present and a range of software companies are joining the Ubuntu enterprise management party. A few recent and forthcoming examples include:
- Groundwork Open Source’s GWOS Monitor Enterprise 6.1 now offers Ubuntu support. Groundwork positions itself as a network monitoring alternative to the Big 4 options (CA, BMC, HP Openview and IBM Tivoli).
- Kaseya in February 2010 plans to launch Kaseya 2, an on-premise and SaaS framework for VARs and IT administrators to remotely manage systems. Kaseya Executive VP Jim Alves says Linux support — including Ubuntu support — will arrive this year.
- Likewise Software, which specializes in Apple, Unix, Linux and Active Directory integration, is building a closer relationship with Canonical and Ubuntu.
- Canonical is expected to debut another Landscape upgrade sometime after Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx) arrives in April 2010.
- Bomgar, which makes appliance-based remote support software, already supports Ubuntu. But it’s safe to expect the company to make additional moves.
Reality Check
Of course, I realize new product launches don’t guarantee customer or IT administrator success. WorksWithU plans to track a range of Ubuntu enterprise deployments more closely in 2010. Hopefully, our efforts will reveal best practices for remotely, proactively managing Ubuntu in the enterprise.
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good move…all the best to ubuntu
Madhu: Yes, good “moves.” Canonical can not make Ubuntu a well-managed enterprise success on its own. The more ISVs and third-party management tools, the better Ubuntu’s chances for enterprise success.
-jp
So how does Canonical earn revenue from these partners?
None of these partnership announcements hook into Canonical services in any way. You can not build and sustain a strong partner program if you are not deriving revenue from your partner efforts.
For Red Hat, the same companies have been partners for years in the RHEL channel. But the difference is the revenue stream in the RHEL model is obvious. Every RHEL installation that comes as part of a partner application deployment is service revenue for Red Hat.
What is going on here is that people are deploying Ubuntu into their stacks because its a zero cost high value option. And these 3rd party companies believe their software is worth paying out of pocket for whereas Canonical..does not. The qustion continues to be…who values Ubuntu enough to pay Canonical to keep spending money managing and sustaining Ubuntu. There’s no evidence anywhere that money spent with any of these application partners trickles back to Canonical or sustain Ubuntu in any material way.
So Ubuntu is a popular enough deployment target for 3rd party companies to care…but do they care enough to support Ubuntu development as expense of doing business with that deployment target?
-jef
Canonical is cash flow positive, from what I heard from jono bacon on a twit.tv (FLOSS weekly podcast) as well as from an article.
It was than no suprise to learn mark shuttleworth is giving the mundane administrative task of CEO of Canonical to someone else, so he can focus on making Ubuntu a cross between a Mac and Windows. Making Ubuntu more Enterprise attractive in other words, through good UI design.
@jef – It is pretty obvious to me how Caonical will benefit from more ISV 3rd party support. After all, it is ISVs that are keeping microsoft from going down sooner. The more ISVs you have running on yoour platform the more options and more deployments that will happen. This translates into more Ubuntu users and more support contracts, not to mention Ubuntu One and their up and coming music store.
At the moment Ubuntu is well on its way for positioning itself well with customers and users which means anything they decide to charge a premium for directly gets free advertising to ubuntu as a platform.
A perfect example of my above claim is the recently announced default search engine setting in Firefox to yahoo! which will share revenue with Canonical. All Canonical had to do to make money was to make a simple config setting to a massively popular application and BOOM money.
Matt:
Can you give a specific reference to the article or to the specific podcast. I haven’t seen anything written anywhere about cash flow positive. But I’m willing to be shown the evidence to contrary.
I do not take it for granted that more deployments mean more support contracts…when you can get the operating system at no cost. Show me the numbers. Show me a list of customers willing to go on record and affirm that they have purchased a support contract from Canonical because they value the support offering. Show me a list of people paying for Ubuntu One. Are you paying for Ubuntu One yet?
Canonical only makes money if users choose to use Yahoo. If the vast majority of users care about what search engine they are using and switch back to Google… boom… very little money. Not that we’ll know..Canonical doesn’t go on record with details about financials.
-jef
@jef Ok, Canonical is VERY CLOSE to cash flow positive, as reported at slashdot
http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/01/20/1627243
Also, listen to http://twit.tv/FLOSS episode about Ubuntu One and the host popped the question to Jono Bacon and he said yes they where.
Do a google search ‘canonical 30 million’ and it will bring up a lot of pages about it being ‘close’.
However, they are not a public company and so do not have to disclose anything. but, I think Canonical IS cash flow positive, they just aren’t coming out publicly about it as it is TABOO for Ubuntu to be cash flow positive in a Free and Open Source world. Ubuntu wants to stay #1 distro, so I would suspect Shuttleworth will conceal this information as long as possible.
Forgot to stress that all these articles are dates a little over one year ago.
We all know that the economy absolutely tanked all through 2009… it is now 2010 and the economy is slowly rebounding, but it will not completely heal (if at all) for years to come.. 2013?
Matt:
Even a year old article….i would like to read it for myself. So please.. provide a link to anything where any Canonical staffer is on record saying the company is cash flow positive. If that article it exists…I missed it completely.
-jef
i think Canonical should provide special distribution like Red Hat that can help it to gain profit… that can be used to support Ubuntu.