TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP

Total Cost of Ownership between Server Operating Systems

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION3

Background of the Study4

Statement of the Problem5

Aims and Objectives5

Research Questions6

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE7

Total Cost of Ownership7

Cost Categories of Server Administration9

Fault Detection9

Application Support10

Inventory Management11

System Backup11

Technical Support12

Software Patches13

Server OS Upgrades13

Third Party Support Tools14

Security14

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY16

Research Design16

Design Strength/Weaknesses17

Sample Size17

Data Analysis18

Ethical Considerations18

CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSION20

REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………………. 21

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this study was to determine if a significant difference in the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) exists between the open source server Operating System (OS) Linux and the proprietary Windows Server OS. There have been various similar studies published with conflicting results. These past studies appear slanted to favor one operating system over the other. This is especially true for those studies commissioned by special interests that may possibly benefit from the results. This research project will use accepted scientific methods and a balanced examination of key areas cited in the literature as contributing to the unequal TCO between servers running Windows OS and those running Linux OS.

Since the end of 2000, budgets for corporate information technology (IT) have come under heavier scrutiny by management (Andriole, 2005). In the book Does IT Matter?, Carr (2004) describes out of control IT costs that have created a “money pit” (p. 107) diverting capital away from strategic business needs. Organizations have increasingly pushed IT departments to use more cost-effective technology and justify its use in the value chain (Devaraj & Kohli, 2002, p. 89). In 2003, an article in Business Week described the open source movement as a viable solution to improved cost control (Greene, 2003, p. 56). The results of this project could be useful to IT managers when evaluating the decision of which server OS to deploy in the enterprise. Cooper and Schindler (2003, p. 102) write that business research should endeavor to solve managerial problems. Moody (2000) writes that IT research produce knowledge available to practitioners for use in solving business problems. Keen (1991, p. 86) states the objective of IT research should be to improve practical planning of IT strategy.

Background of the Study

The acquisition cost of open source software is zero to very low (Proffitt, 2005, p. 15), making an attractive alternative to high cost proprietary software. In response to the low cost acquisition argument, advocates of proprietary software assert that this so called free software requires more time and extensive effort to support, making it more expensive than a proprietary solution over the lifetime of the system (Microsoft, 2009a). These advocates argue that these higher costs eventually chew up any initial cost savings of the free software. Open source advocates argue that those properly trained in Linux are able to support Linux servers at a lower cost (Proffitt, 2005), because it takes much less effort overall. According to Greene (2003, p. 103), the open source movement continues to gain in popularity.

This is especially true in the area of the OS for server applications (Abramson, 2004). The lower or no cost availability combined with the freedom to customize as ...