September 21, 2004

Yankee Group Predicts Linux on SMB desktops (not)

Less than 1% of businesses with fewer than 500 employees have Linux on their desktop PCs. The Yankee group's research indicates that in the next 6 months to 1 year, three - ten percent of the SMB market will have Linux on the desktop.

A lot can happen in a year but the Linux market overall is so fragmented and the Windows market (for SMB's) so stable and popular and strongly supported by resellers/VARs I don't think Linux is going to grab a foot hold that fast.

At face value it is cheaper to use "open source" software and Linux on your desktop, but when you realize you can not longer download thousands of shareware titles from Download.com or easily find a consultant to help you with a problem or craft a solution for you a business owner realizes that the Windows platform is the better solution.

ZD Net writes "Pay attention to the less-than-20-employees market segment," the report advises technology companies, "because that is where the early Linux-versus-Windows desktop wars will play out. The very-small-business segment shows the greatest interest in Linux desktop adoption in the next 12 or more months...Historically, the low end of the (small business) market is most cost conscious, and many will opt for a lower-cost alternative after weighing the price-to-value risk."

0 comments