Small Business: How Red Hat Will Attack Microsoft Stronghold
At first glance, Microsoft’s software portfolio — Windows, Office, Small Business Server and Exchange — still dominates the small business market. But Red Hat CEO Jim Whiteshurst says his company has found a back door into the small business market. Perhaps surprisingly, it doesn’t really involve desktop Linux. Here’s how Whitehurst sees Red Hat gaining a foothold in the small business IT market.
I sat down with Whitehurst at the Red Hat Partner Summit in Boston on June 21. While most of our conversation focused on larger customer bases, Whitehurst certainly sees an opportunity for Red Hat to push far deeper into the small business market.
So, is Red Hat preparing a big desktop Linux push? Nope. Instead, Whitehurst sees cloud computing — everything from Google Apps to Amazon Web Services — as Red Hat’s doorway into small business. Whitehurst asserts that 90 percent of today’s clouds leverage Red Hat’s software. Moreover, he adds: Cloud computing can’t exist without open source.
Instead of building and hosting its own cloud platform, Red Hat will depend on partners and service providers to leverage Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), JBoss middleware and Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization (RHEV) for their cloud efforts. Plus, Red Hat will continue to promote an open architecture, allowing ISVs to mix and match their software with Red Hat’s own offerings, Whitehurst adds.
Whitehurst covers the strategy in this FastChat Video with The VAR Guy:
Of course, Microsoft has its own SMB cloud push — involving both Windows Azure and BPOS (Business Productivity Online Suite). And much of the recent Microsoft cloud effort involves a SaaS showdown with Google Apps.
Desktop Linux: Where’s the Money?
Meanwhile, Whitehurst says Red Hat will continue to develop and support its desktop Linux offering but the company has no plans to make a major desktop Linux push. The reason: Whitehurst sees plenty of demand for desktop Linux but he has no idea why customers would actually pay for desktop Linux.
Also, Whitehurst says the age of the PC is over. Red Hat’s goal is to ensure server and cloud connectivity to a range of devices, including the growing wave of mobile devices.
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Sorry, no cloud for me except from my own servers, technology which I have been using for a very long time now … my data, my servers
Cloud Computing has value only for SOAs, not SAAS. Agreed, Linux would be a much better choice than Windows (security and stability anyone), but would I want to trust my data to a third party? Short answer, NO!!
I am an Enterprise Architect, working with Fortune 500 companies and governments. No way I would suggest ANYONE to trust corporate data to a third party!! Too risky, WAY TOO RISKY!!
You cannot gaurantee how secure your data will be. You do not know who these third parties employ to protect these services. Since 90% outsource these types of services, well, no thank you!!
I DO SEE where SOAs are valuable as extensions to business. Things like Maps, Medical knoweldge exchange, or general type knowledge services are extremely valuable services that DEFINITELY hold value for customers and your Web Site users. RSS feeds, ect. Yes, these are definite great business models. Virtual hosting is also a good thing.
But trusting corporate data like HR services, Customer lists, accounting, to a third party outside the corporate control? BAD IDEA!!
Using Cloud based apps that will hold data on internal corporate servers is possible, but ONLY if trust between the app and the data is assured through a two way authentication method. The encrypted certs or keys should not be send from server to data center, it should be the other way around.. The client starts the authentication process. Anything stored on the external server is hackable. Data Centers HAVE TO CONTROL the authentication process and there needs to be methods in place to verify source from the server side as to where the request originates through the handshaking method(s). However, this is NOT the way most Cloud apps work. If any other methods are employed, you are opening your corporate data up to the world.
Cloud has useful purposes, but until we see a vastly different security model, I would not and could not recommend cloud computing for anything other than non-critical information exchange. Since I am in the IT industry, I know what can happen, IF you do not protect your sensitive data! Why do you think I REFUSE to use on line banking?
My banks are surprised to find out why I do not use 21st century banking when I am in IT. That’s EXACTLY why I will not use it; — I know the lax security models employed in most OLB and other O.L.D. exchanges. 90% use cheapest labor they can find and with that 90% lack of experience. NO WAY, I want my financial info out in the wild. If I will not do it for my own personal info, why in the world would I suggest a customer do otherwise?
Cloud has potential, but not until we revisit how security is applied and who will be administering the security procedures.
I think you are too paranoid. Apart from downtime, data security should not be an issue if you choose a service where all your data is encrypted/decryped on client rather than the ‘cloud’. That way i think no one can do anything with your encrypted data.
As Nanotech and Paul already said, it’s too risky for a company to trust its files to a third party as cloud computing is thought of today, but if cloud computing is applied by the company itself and inside a company’s own VPN instead of using a third party then it can have a lot of usage. Like an enterprise version of google docs installable on a company server, not available to the outside world if you want. Perhaps this has been done already, if so then correct me, i have been away from IT jobs in enterprises for some time.
@Paul;
While you do have some valid points about how corporate data should be treated, you’re a little off base when it comes to banking. I work in IT in the banking industry. Did you know that you use networked banking services run over the Internet just about every time you pay a bill by check? That’s how your vendors are updating accounts these days because the older EDI networks are so expensive.
I think online banking’s track record over the past decade or so speaks for itself. Stick with well established banks with solid security practices and your money is safe.
@sgtrock I agree but I think what you are saying is different from what Paul mentioned, cloud computing would mean storing files on a third party server,which is different from data transfer from one point to the other. Cloud computing is relatively new, I doubt many businesses will start trusting a third party yet, especially if they need to store files which hold private client data and significant economic information,or anything critical for that matter.
A cloud repository running on RedHat must be more secure than desktops running Windows. As pankaj states, encryption services on the client maintain security. Remote access helps those who prefer to work from home (or from the beach in my case). My backup service to USB storage certainly gives increased peace of mind. I haven’t had to use it yet.
In Australia, taxation rules make a business archive 5 years of paperwork. This means even computer generated orders and invoices have to printed on paper and stored in boxes. As paper is more robust than computer data archives, it would benefit companies here if an automatically scanned paper document was the primary data storage and data access method. Having to key in the data is a cost imposition that computers should have let us do away with by now. Maybe RedHat can use the innovative open source system to develop a lining on the cloud and give us remote data storage and data manipulation of scanned images rather than keyed in data.
Stomfi@7: Yes, Red Hat focuses quite a bit on securing their own software for SaaS and cloud computing. But the challenges you highlight pertain more to the cloud and SaaS providers themselves. Remember: Red Hat is not building public clouds. Instead, Red Hat’s partners are building the clouds. So the partners will need to address end-customers’ security questions/concerns.
-jp
I’ve heard of crooks holding people’s data hostage for ransom. The fact that someone else’s data may be encrypted doesn’t matter. Crooks don’t have to look at data to derive value from it. They only have to control access to it. They just have to add another encryption layer, encryption for which they hold the digital keys. When you give someone hold of your data, at worst it may be a case of criminal negligence in case of security breach and at worst, it may be criminal will.