The proven value of open source software running on industry-standard servers is driving adoption deep into the enterprise data center, enabling companies to replace aging UNIX*/RISC deployments with more powerful, flexible, and affordable solutions. A recent total cost of ownership (TCO) study by Alinean indicates that a cost savings of nearly 50 percent can be achieved in a typical migration to Red Hat Enterprise Linux on Intel® processor-based servers, and some of the success stories highlighted in this paper document much greater savings.

The first half of this paper introduces key aspects of the combined platform that are delivering high value in enterprise computing environments. The second half offers guidance for business and IT decision-makers who are interested in understanding the potential costs, benefits, and risks of migration for their specific applications and IT environments. It provides high-level guidelines for assessing cost and complexity and for planning a smooth, successful, and strategic migration.