Q1 server OS research results: Is Linux leveling off, or is there Longhorn anticipation at work?
Posted on May 23, 2007
Two interesting surveys released this week by IDC and Evans spell good news for Microsoft (MSFT) in its battle with the Linux open source software (OSS) operating system for systems dominance.
Matt Eastwood at IDC reports that Windows server revenue grew faster than Linux server revenue in Q107, a placement Microsoft had never achieved before in the almost 10 years IDC has been fielding the server-sales tracking survey.
That indicates to me that Linux as a server platform is leveling off much sooner than proponents anticipated. Red Hat (RAT) has been clear of late that its business is about UNIX migration rather than beating Windows. These results back Red Hat up, although it might not be happy about that. The absolute Linux-based server sales number of $1.6 B for the quarter is at one third of Microsoft’s Windows server sales, which at $4.8B represent 38% of all server revenue. That’s up 2% over the same quarter in 2006 against the aggregate of Linux, Unix, AS/400, zOS, and so forth.
Of course, this data could represent a spike based on some kind of Longhorn anticipation movement. If so, that’s good news for Microsoft as well as it might mean the year of the Vista (FY 2007) will be followed by the year of the Longhorn (FY 2008), leaving breathing room until Microsoft has to execute the year of the Google attack.
Also, this does not mean Microsoft is against the OSS movement in general. Other recent research analyzed by me this week at ebizQ.net (and my experience in general) shows that as much higher level OSS runs on Windows as Linux.
Meanwhile, the Evans data (released on Business Wire but not yet on Evans’ Web site) says, “Overall, the largest portion (50%) of software professionals expect to increase their IT development spending with Microsoft more than any other company…” The study was designed to get the opinions and attitudes of software professionals specifically. Microsoft ranked highest for expected increases in IT spending. Other leading vendors ranking high in the survey according to the press release were BEA, IBM and SAP.
If good news, like bad news, comes in threes, stand by for the next positive Microsoft research finding: confirmation of the slow, steady uptake in Microsoft ERP offerings, for example.
–Dennis Byron
Tags: Microsoft, Linux, Red Hat, server
Comments
Leave a Comment
If you would like to make a comment, please fill out the form below.