Leading Linux

ASIA-PACIFIC, 19 May 2005

From its roots as a fledgling project in the early nineties, Linux has grown to become the fastest growing operating system in the world.

As the success of Linux continues to snowball, HP is taking a leadership role in the advancement of this important platform. In Asia-Pacific and Japan alone, the company has launched two new programs designed to assist with the migration and adoption of the open source environment.

With a history of pioneering open source computing, HP's commitment to Linux comes as no surprise. The company has held the number one position in the worldwide Linux server market share for 27 consecutive quarters in both revenue and shipments ⁽¹⁾. The situation is similar in Asia-Pacific and Japan, where HP has the predominant market share in revenue and the number two position in shipments.⁽²⁾

'The demand for Linux and open source technologies is continuing to accelerate and customers are turning to HP for the expertise, increased value and the choice we provide,' said Martin Fink, vice president of Linux, HP.

In China, HP has set up an exciting new Linux laboratory with the Ministry of Information Industry (MII) as part of the China National Software and Integrated Public Service Platform Initiative (CSIP). The joint laboratory aims to bolster the development of China's Linux market by improving the authorisation standard and strengthening the quality and competitive capabilities of China's home-grown software.

'The MII-HP Lab provides comprehensive support for R&D, testing and authorisation of Linux products to boost the development of Chinese Linux solutions to achieve breakthroughs in the Chinese software industry,' said Ding WenWu, deputy director of Electronic Products Administration Department, MII.

As part of its role in the new laboratory, HP has delivered a range of software and hardware - including high-end servers and networking connections - as well as relevant technology support and training.

Through the laboratory, HP aims to bring the best Linux experience to Chinese customers, enabling business and IT to be synchronised to capitalise on change to create successful Adaptive Enterprises.

'HP is proud to be the first major Linux sponsor in China and is committed to work closely with local partners to build the national Linux Lab and drive product development and software innovation,' said Sun Cheng-Yaw, vice president of HP and president of HP China.

In Singapore, HP has furthered their support for Linux with their recent S$2 million investment in enterprise-class hardware and services for the Oracle-Red Hat Linux Enterprise Application Porting (LEAP) Center.

Based in Singapore, the LEAP Center is a free resource, designed to be a hub for Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and systems integrators with migrating, certifying, optimising and ultimately delivering Linux solutions. The center will support ISVs throughout the region and aims to accelerate Linux adoption in Asia-Pacific and Japan by increasing the availability of enterprise-grade, third-party Linux applications.

Specifically, the LEAP Center provides access to both Red Hat and Oracle engineers who, using HP Hardware, migrate and certify ISV applications using Red Hat and Oracle resources. Following migration, ISVs receive migration templates and white papers for further in-house work, as well as access to future training courses.

'The LEAP Center makes it easier for ISVs and their customers to adopt Linux,' said Sanjiv Aiyar, vice president and managing director, HP Southeast Asia.

'This investment in the LEAP Center underlines HP's leadership in Linux, demonstrated by a decade of commitment to the open source community,' he added.

Since the first days of Linux, HP emerged as one of the earliest advocates of the platform. As a result, Linux has become a vital part of HP Adaptive Enterprise - the company's real-time platform to maximise business agility and better manage resources across a network.

The company's Linux solutions are built with best-of-breed software, on standard-based servers, and delivered with world-class service - offering customers more choice, cost savings, breakthrough performance, innate security and functionality at a low cost.

HP Linux Reference Architecture (LRA), for example, provides a base of configured, pre-tested, proven, and documented components for Linux - from servers, Linux distributions, middleware, software and services - that provide a foundation for successful solutions deployment. LRA is the industry's first middleware based on commercial and open source software.

'HP's Linux Reference Architecture solution stacks take much of the guesswork out of building a software stack above the Linux operating system, which assures enterprises that they are getting a solution tested and validated to work,' said Al Gillen, research director, System Software, IDC.

'Enterprises also benefit by purchasing an entire solution from a single vendor, rather than having to try to assemble it themselves,' he added.

With the industry buzzing about the benefits of Linux, the platform will undoubtedly continue to be pervasive in all elements of IT, and HP plans on playing a central role in its continued development.

'HP will stay at the forefront of designing and delivering the open source solutions customers need - beyond just Linux - and will continue to set the market agenda for the adoption of open source software by businesses, allowing customers to build an Adaptive Enterprise,' Fink said.

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