Linux and UNIX vendor Caldera has announced it will begin offering services and support for other major Linux distributions -- Red Hat, Suse, Turbolinux, Mandrake, and Conectiva -- through its Caldera Global Services division. The enterprise-class services will be available from Caldera service centers around the world, and will include the following:

Support services: Including services for problem diagnosis and resolution, such as 24x7 phone and e-mail support from Linux professionals
Professional services: Help for partners and customers in large-scale project work, solution implementation, and custom software engineering.
Education: Caldera will partner with IT training organizations to provide training on Linux and UNIX platforms and products using Caldera's OpenLearning Courseware.
Online services: When used with services such as Volution Online, these help companies manage software assets to reduces the cost of monitoring and managing Linux systems.

No Linux will be refused

The company is positioning itself as a one-stop services shop for any Linux organization, says Caldera General Manager and Senior VP Reg Broughton, although the primary target is Caldera customers, most of whom use several variants of Linux, perhaps to run a Web, file, or print server. For example, he says, "Chances are that our customers will have Red Hat somewhere in their organization. ... We see [Linux] as a heterogeneous environment where there are multiple distributions."

In 2001, the company got a huge boost in services resources when it acquired Santa Cruz Operation's (SCO) Professional Services division, which left Caldera with what Broughton calls "a global support infrastructure" at its disposal, including support staff working in Europe, Asia, etc. This expansion led naturally to new service offerings, Broughton says, because different areas of the world have adopted different distributions. For example, Suse is big in Europe but not in the U.S., and Conectiva is commonly used in South America. The service offices will help companies run whatever distribution is popular for that region.

"Linux is not a proprietary world"

All Linux distributions share a basic set of Linux code, called a kernel (http://www.advisor.com/Articles.nsf/aid/SMITT488). Analysts say it therefore shouldn't be hard for Caldera to start supporting other Linux versions, but many express doubt that a Red Hat customer would call Caldera staff to get help with that software.

But the services market for open source technology is different from that for proprietary technology, Broughton counters. "If you have a GM car, why would you take it to a Ford garage?" he asks. "There's a simple answer to that: Ford and GM are proprietary. Linux is not. So if you could get exactly the same engine in a Ford as you could in a GM, and the GM garage is offering a better service, why wouldn't you use it?"

Caldera will rely on the quality of its services, then, and its management tools to attract business. Its software management and deployment tools, Volution Manager and Volution Online, can already run on and manage other Linux distributions, and the services announcement will extend this move towards cross-Linux systems management by adding technical support and professional services people.

"We're not trying to drive people from Red Hat to Caldera Linux. ... No matter which Linux you've deployed, if you're looking for good support services, we have that, and we have this layer of other technologies [Volution management tools] that sit on top of Linux that can add value to your operation. ... If you've got a Red Hat box and you've got a security or software problem, we'll fix that for you."

What goes wrong?

Linux customers typically need help with troubleshooting, and keeping up with software updates, Broughton says. Linux consists of small modules of software that are constantly updated, so the platform changes rapidly.

"Even though you buy a Red Hat CD and install Red Hat Linux, the day you install it there are probably 20, 30, 40, or 50 updates you should download and install."

Configuring the software and patching security gaps are also common service requests.

"It's always a configuration problem," he says. "A machine crashes, and a systems administrator can't figure out how to get that machine back up."

Caldera now has the tools to help customers manage their own system, and the "real people" to call when they need help, Broughton says.

A recent survey from Evans Data reveals that developers' confidence in the security of Linux is quite high; 75 percent have never encountered an unwanted intrusion, and 98 percent have remained virus-free (http://www.advisor.com/Articles.nsf/aid/MACIE59).

You can get more information at http://www.caldera.com/services.