Canonical's Ubuntu Server Edition Gains ISV Support
Canonical’s Ubuntu Server Edition is finally showing some ISV (independent software vendor) momentum. The latest two examples involve Openbravo and Alfresco. Here’s the news and a bigger picture look at Canonical’s attempt to compete against Windows Server, Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Novell SUSE Linux on the server.
First, the news: Openbravo ERP 2.50 Professional Subscription, built on top of Ubuntu Server Edition, is available now. The news comes one week after Alfresco Community Edition 3.2 became available from the Ubuntu software repositories.
Now the bigger picture: Canonical’s overall business strategy includes multiple moves beyond Ubuntu Desktop Edition — including server, cloud, storage (Ubuntu One) and systems management (Landscape) initiatives.
Words But Few Actions?
On the server front I was growing a little worried. The reason: In recent months it seemed as if Canonical’s Ubuntu Server Edition ISV program had stalled.
During LinuxWorld 2008, ISVs like Alfresco, Openbravo and Unison Technologies Inc. vowed to support Canonical’s server operating system. But actual applications for Ubuntu Server Edition were slow to materialize in late 2008 and early 2009.
Fast forward to the present and Canonical finally seems to be pushing server ISVs forward. One potential reason involves John Pugh, ISV channel sales manager at Canonical. Pugh caught my attention a few weeks ago with the Canonical-Alfresco announcement. And multiple sources say Pugh has been instrumental in Canonical’s recent ISV moves — with more news to come.
Also of note: The ISV relationships could help Canonical to attract channel partners. Both Alfresco and Openbravo landed on The Open Source 50, which tracks the IT channel’s most promising open source partner programs.
Servers In the Cloud
Meanwhile, Canonical’s server effort has gained momentum on other fronts — including in the cloud. Canonical in July 2009 unveiled the Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud (UEC)…
“an open-source system that enables organisations to build their own clouds that match the interface of Amazon EC2. UEC is now available as part of the Ubuntu Server Edition technology stack.”
Also, Hewlett-Packard began certifying ProLiant servers to run Ubuntu Server Edition in June 2009.
Reality Check
I’m not suggesting that Ubuntu Server Edition is poised to become a powerhouse vs. Windows Server, Red Hat and Novell. More progress is required. For instane, Canonical must now work with Alfresco, Openbravo, Unison and other ISVs to promote server applications to customers and channel partners.
Unison, for instance, confirms support for Ubuntu but does not yet have any Ubuntu-Unison customer references to share. Plus, big-name ISVs (such as Oracle) have yet to embrace Ubuntu Server Edition.
Still, much of the anecdotal evidence above shows continued progress for Canonical’s server effort.
Take the alfresco and openbravo packages with a grain of salt.
Canonical has had a concept of a partner repository since Dapper and they can’t seem to actually keep partners around for very long.
Remember the Zimbra partner announcement and the associated zdesktop packages in the partner repository cerca 2008? That was a one release partnership for Hardy. Hows that partnership going nowadays?
Remember the SugarCRM partner announcement and the associated packages in the partner repository cerca 2007? You don’t? I do.
Why didn’t SugarCRM re-engage Canonical to have packages included in the partner repository for the Hardy LTS release?
What about Opera you ask? That’s a good question. Introduced in the partner repository for Dapper and made available for multiple Ubuntu releases! Impressive longevity there..except..at some point it was pulled entirely and is no longer available in in the partner repository at all..for any Ubuntu release. Hmm what happened there.
Canonical is a printing press for ISV partnership announcements..none of them have had serious staying power in terms of maintained packages in Canonical’s add-on partner repository. Canonical has not had a good track record keeping partners..in their assigned place. Maybe its because ultimately ISV partners are just looking to have some of Canonical’s buzz rub off on them but long term Canonical’s engineering services are too costly to pay for across multiple Ubuntu releases.
If you want to understand the future of Canonical’s partnership repository efforts…acquaint yourself with the history of the effort all the way back to Dapper and try to understand why specific partnerships haven’t lasted across the LTS timeline. If all you do is watch the press releases pile up you are only getting half the story. Why aren’t the partnerships lasting?
-jef
Jef: I beg to differ on a few points. You suggest that the Openbravo and Alfresco developments should be taken with a grain of salt. I suggest otherwise.
When an ISV promises to support and OS — and then delivers on that promise — it’s important. Openbravo’s and Alfresco’s decision to assign developer resources focused on Ubuntu is important. Canonical’s continued progress on the server is important.
You bring up a key potential point regarding SugarCRM and I will check it out.
I concede Canonical’s server efforts are a work in progress. But Canonical is, indeed, making progress.
Joe:
You have a strange definition of progress. What I see is a sequential attempts to find momentum. Count the number of partners with packages in Canonical’s partner repository for each Ubuntu release…and trend it. Start with Dapper. There’s no observable progress there. At best new partners have switched in to replace older partners…but the number of active partners has not grown.
You know what sort of promise is important from a partnership standpoint? Its the sort of promise that VSP.NET has made to turnkey to provide monetary support in proportion to the number of customers Turnkey can drive to VSP.NET. I’m actually more hopeful that the TurnKey and VSP.NET partnership will be a long one, than I am about any particular Canonical partnership that involves packages in Canonical’s partner repository. On the same note, the Eucalyptus Systems/Canonical partnership is probably going to be the healthiest Canonical partnership currently on the books because it involves software that is available directly in Ubuntu Universe and not in Canonical’s special partner repository. If Alfresco or OpenBravo’s software ever makes it into universe, I’d call that a solid long term arrangement.
-jef