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CIO Executive Council

A Peer-Advisory Service and Professional Association for CIOs

Webcast: In the Google Apps Cloud: How to Achieve Your Business Objectives

Dec 3rd, '09, 1 - 2 pm US/Eastern (GMT-5)

Join Council member Brent Hoag, Director, Global IT, at JohnsonDiversey, as he discusses the adoption of Google Apps which has helped meet four corporate goals; sustainability, simplification, increased employee productivity and global collaboration.

Webcast: Collaboration Initiatives: Benchmarks & Best Practices

Dec 15th, '09, 4 - 5 pm US/Eastern (GMT-5)

Join Council members Ruth Thorpe, VP & CIO at the U.S. Pharmaceutical Operations of Sanofi-Aventis, and Gary Kuyper, CIO at Bethany Christian Services, as they speak about their collaboration initiatives and experiences in how and why they chose the social networking and collaboration tools they are using and their business goals for collaboration, and facing culture change challenges.

Data Overview: Collaboration Initiatives Field Guide: Benchmarks & Best Practices

This appendix to the Council Field Guide provides an analysis which discusses benchmarks for collaboration IT implementation costs, adoption rates and payoffs. The overview identifies top IT and business goals and satisfaction rates for collaboration initiatives as well as best practices and lessons learned for implementing collaboration IT.

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News Feature

Red Hat Spins Novell-Microsoft Pact in Its Favor

Red Hat is putting a positive spin on a deal between Novell and Microsoft that may threaten the company’s ...

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November 03, 2006 — CIO —

Red Hat is putting a positive spin on a deal between Novell and Microsoft that may threaten the company’s position as the leading supplier of Linux.

In a question-and-answer response on its website to the co-marketing, technology and indemnification alliance announced Thursday between Novell and Microsoft, Red Hat said the deal "means Linux has won."

"It was inevitable. The best technology has been acknowledged," Red Hat said in its statement. "The relentless march of open source is shaking up the industry by freeing customers from proprietary lock-in and lack of choice."

The company also used its response as an opportunity to promote its own programs that protect customers from possible patent litigation for technologies found in its Linux distribution. Part of the alliance between Microsoft and Novell protects Suse Linux users from any threat of patent litigation from Microsoft.

Red Hat also scoffed at the financial deal between Novell and Microsoft that involves up-front payments from both companies in exchange for a release of patent liability. Additionally, Novell also will make running royalty payments to Microsoft based on a percentage of revenue from open-source products.

"An innovation tax is unthinkable," according to Red Hat’s statement. "Free and open-source software provide the necessary environment for true innovation. Innovation without fear or threat. Activities that isolate communities or limit upstream adoption will inevitably stifle innovation."

Despite Red Hat’s take, most analysts agree that the deal gives Novell a slight edge in its rivalry with Red Hat in the Linux market.

"Microsoft has basically said, if you must run Linux in a virtualized environment ... please use Novell’s SUSE Linux," wrote Goldman Sachs & Co. analyst Rick Sherlund in a research note on the deal. "Novell gets a much-needed marketing boost given the relatively low market share of SUSE Linux."

A competitive edge for its biggest rival comes at a particularly bad time for Red Hat, as Oracle dealt the company a substantial blow just last week when it said it would begin selling technical support for Red Hat’s Linux distribution. That plan validates Red Hat Linux while undermining the Linux distributor’s own support and maintenance business.

-Elizabeth Montalbano, IDG News Service (New York Bureau)

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