The Covid-19 pandemic has thrown the world into crisis, with business declining as lockdowns drive a global economic downturn.
In this environment, organisations are looking for ways to cut costs as far as possible.
Linux could be a big part of the solution to this problem, as outlined in a free-to-attend SUSE/SAB & T TEC webinar to take place on 10 June.
Tinus Brink, director of consulting at SAB & T TEC, explains that there are many compelling reasons to opt for a Linux solution.
“The first is cost,” he says. “Linux has been around since 1991 and has come a long way in that time. In one month (April 2020), Linux installations grew from 1,3% of the total installed base to a 3%. This might not sound like a lot, but it represents massive growth. For some Linux distributions, the grow rate was better than 600%.”
SUSE has enjoyed its fair share of this growth, and today has a very healthy installed base within the enterprise space.
“Today, companies are facing the prospect of declining business and job losses, so they are looking for ways to save money,” Brink says.
An immediate and significant saving can be made in software licenses for end user devices, he explains.
“What users generally require on their devices is personal productivity applications and access to a browser. In fact, with the move to cloud computing, they often really just need a browser. But companies are paying license fees for software or features that are not strictly necessary.”
Brink points out that switching to a Linux front-end and an effective back-end management tool could save organisations a massive chunk of their end user license costs.
SUSE Manager monitors an organisation’s infrastructure and manages how they deploy services on to front-end devices from a central point.
Importantly, SUSE Manager is vendor-agnostic, so it can be used to manage any front-end environment, including various Linux flavours.
“It achieves the immediate aim of substantially reducing costs, and has the added advantage of reducing complexity too,” Brink says.
In a world where cybersecurity attacks are becoming more commonplace – exacerbated by the remote working trend – SUSE Manager also helps organisations to maintain a better security posture. “Of course SUSE Linux itself is more secure by default as it is more difficult to hack,” Brink points out.
Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, more employees than ever before are now working remotely, making the centralised control enabled by SUSE Manager more critical than ever before, he adds.
“Organisations need a tool that helps them to maintain control, and that lets them roll out applications and services without having to be physically present.
“SUSE Manager is the key to lowering complexity and increasing efficiency – while saving money in both the short-term and the long run.”
The management tool offers additional value by playing a key role in deploying SAP HANA systems.
Brink points out that SUSE is the platform running about 70% of SAP servers in the market, rising to more than 90% of SAP HANA deployments.
“It is very easy to roll out SAP systems on top of SUSE,” he explains. “And with SUSE Manager, it is possible to make it even easier by automating SAP HANA deployments so nodes can be spun up without the administrator being present.
“This speeds deployment, reduces complexity and errors, and reduces consulting costs.”
SAB & T TEC is offering customers a free cost-cutting evaluation. “We will spend a day consulting with the organisation to see where it is possible to cut costs within their environment, and advise them on what they can do to implement the savings,” Brink says. “We can then help them realise savings, or they can opt to work with another organisation.”
During the upcoming webinar, Brink will share ideas and methods for saving costs, cutting complexity and increasing efficiency in managing front-end environments, and automating SAP HANA deployments.
The free webinar takes place on 10 June, from 09h00 to 11h30. Sign up here.