In the near future Joslin also will be pushing the use of parallel databases on a Linux platform to deliver enterprise-scale database services for some of Zurich North America's critical applications and business intelligence processes.
As Joslin's and other executives' concerns demonstrate, the Linux proposition is significantly limited by the maturity of Linux-based offerings and management tools for enterprise uses. Accommodation by industry vendors is another issue, and some of the biggest players are taking strong positions.
Vendor Investment
IBM is making a big bet on more widespread adoption, saying that Linux and the open-source movement are central to its e-business On Demand strategy, and to the future of the IT industry in general. The Armonk, N.Y.-based vendor operates a Linux Technology Center, staffed by more than 300 engineers worldwide who, according to IBM, work full-time on Linux as participants in the open-source community. IBM also claims to have more than 7,500 employees involved with Linux in porting centers, research, services, development labs and sales and marketing; and the vendor is currently shipping more than 65 software products that run on Linux across its IBM DB2, WebSphere, Lotus and Tivoli software families.
Although the insurance industry has been slower than other financial services segments to move on Linux, greater adoption of the open source technology by carriers is a matter of time, in the opinion of Bill Pieroni, general manager, IBM Global Insurance Industry. "Everyone is experimenting with it; of my top 10 customers, every single one has a pilot," he comments. Few major implementations have appeared so far, Pieroni acknowledges, but he insists that "it's slowly creeping into new development, and certainly into the long-term strategies of clients."
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