Institute for Advanced Professional Studies

Linux Training Survey Results* - March 2004

A net 86% of contacts have seen increased activity for Linux training within the past year. Contacts report that activity is "way up" and that "business has been great."
- A net 71% of contacts reported that training activity had increased within the past quarter. Contacts report that "classes are always full and growing."
- A net 85% of contacts anticipate increased activity within the next quarter.
- This shows a significant increase over our previous survey in February 2004 where 60% of respondents reported increased activity. In our previous survey, only 50% of contacts anticipated increased activity.
In comparison, 11% of contacts reported increased activity for Microsoft server products.
- Contacts report that customers are interested in Linux products that "play well with Microsoft products." Contacts believe compatibility between the two systems is very strong and customers see Linux as a pure alternative to Microsoft products.
- Contacts report that companies are looking to become "Microsoft free" within a year due to reliability, stability, and security issues. In this scenario, the alternative is Linux.
Contacts unanimously believe that Linux has matured to a point where customers trust it on mission-critical tasks.
- Customers no longer have doubts about the viability of Linux in critical roles. Linux has made headway in areas such as clustering for high-availability, routing, and Exchange server tasks.
- In most cases, Linux replaces a Microsoft product within the organization.
Contacts overwhelmingly believe that the addition of Novell to the Linux marketplace is a positive for Red Hat.
- Novell's entry into the market gives Linux more exposure, according to contacts. Customers see a multi-vendor marketplace as "safe."
- Contacts see Novell competing directly with RED HAT, but focusing on a different niche, desktops.
- Many contacts agree that Microsoft has more to lose than RED HAT from the entry of Novell.
Contacts see Linux moving into all industries. Linux activity has reportedly increased in medical, telecom, defense, manufacturing, retail, finance, R&D, wholesale distribution, education, entertainment, government, and automotive.
- Contacts see healthcare as the lone industry where Linux adoption has been slow.

*Excerpts from a copyrighted report prepared by FTN Midwest Research and distributed by IAPS with their permission. The views expressed in the above excerpts were drawn solely by FTN Midwest Research and do not necessarily reflect the views of IAPS.