Understanding Unix migration: A demand-side view
Customer attitudes toward Unix migration continue to evolve in the marketplace. Over the past few years, IDC has completed several comprehensive primary research studies that examine the drivers and inhibitors toward migration in today's Unix installed base to Window servers.
Here is a summary of their results:
- Unix server sites will retain business-critical and mission-critical workloads for years to come.
- However, this research found real potential for Unix migration both to other Unix environments and to alternative platforms including Linux and Window servers. On a unit basis, Window servers were the leading platform for Unix migration with 45% of the volume. Other flavours of Unix generate the most server migration spending, capturing 48% of the Unix revenue opportunity.
- Migration needs to return measurable business value to the customer. Cost reduction is a major migration goal, but end users, based on a recent survey, are unsure exactly where their savings will come from. However, TCO is often perceived as the lead value driver for migration-related cost reduction today.
- There is an initial, upfront cost associated with any migration activity, which may be recouped more quickly if ISV packaged applications can be deployed and the migration of homegrown or custom applications is kept to a minimum.
The IDC study summarises the results from a recent survey of 400 Unix/RISC customers regarding their plans for Unix migrations and provides insights and analyses the impact on the Unix server installed base.
Today businesses need to stay ahead of competitors in terms of performance and efficiency, this is achieved through prudent investment in the correct server platforms. Migration is frequently used as one of the strategies to reduce hardware and software spending and also lower management costs.
To find out more on migrating your enterprise resource planning systems (ERP) from a Unix platform to a Window server click on the link.
