[COLUG] Musing on training, another view

[charles morrison]

Joshua Kramer wrote:

/Hello All,

Here is a general musing on training.  I've done this to start a 
discussion related to the topic; please add your own observations and 
comment on mine.

Assumption: Business with 100-500 employees, big enough to have its own 
internal IT "person" or department.  This business may not be located in 
the city where it's relatively easy to find Linux-experienced folks.

Observation #1: One of the common and most valid points of objection 
supporting business avoiding Linux is the dearth of admins who know how to 
use it.

Observation #2: Relatively speaking, training isn't that expensive. [1,2]

Observation #3: Great savings can be gained by using Linux instead of 
Windows.

Ergo, companies are willing to sacrifice large savings later to avoid a
small cost now.  Now let's examine the counter-observations:

Counter-Observation #1, on Risk: Even if training is inexpensive now, 
there is a risk because if the person we hire and train today gets hit 
tomorrow by a bus (or better job), this will leave us dry during the 
period of hiring a new admin and training that admin.

Counter-Observation #2: Psychological boundaries exist.  The newly-minted 
MCSE who just wasted $25K on ComputerTraining.com won't be open to 
learning Linux, or will be dumbfounded at the paradigm shift involved.

The question is, how do we get over the Counter-Observations?

Notes:

1. As seen here:
    https://www.redhat.com/training/elearning/catalog/topic/rh_linux.html

2. If you figure the cost of one month's salary/benes at $60k/yr and
    add the cost of training noted above, I assume approximately $6-8k.
    If you consider this cost in comparison to the increased costs of
    Windows infrastructure, it is small.

What other thoughts does everyone have about this?

Cheers,
-J/

These are good questions and statements. I am personally in this 
situation: I own a small business (15 people) and want to move all 
servers and desktops to Linux.

One of the missing points in the discussion is the business risk to 
using Windows. No one addresses this risk, which is the inadvertent 
violation of use policies resulting in severe business costs when the 
Sheriff comes at MS's request. Example is  the guitar string company in 
California that had an audit and they had a habit of replacing computers 
and moving them down in the company to positions lower in the "food 
chain". They didn't have a plan to wipe out the drives and reinstall 
Windows, so they often left programs from another department. This 
resulted in a big fine and the president of the company converted the 
entire company to Linux; desktops and all. Left over software is a 
significant business risk. By not using Windows, they have one less 
procedure to follow and to enforce, which reduces operating costs and 
eliminates risk.

Another risk which I want to avoid is the risk that some one else, 
possibly from another planet, has the ability to shut down my company, 
or maybe just keep it from opening due to reloading Windows (replacement 
of hard drive, blown mother board, etc) and having to ask permission to 
use something I already paid for. This can cause significant disruptions 
to company operations. Linux eliminates this risk. Linux also puts 
control of any problems within the company.

One of my people already had enough when he personally bought a new copy 
of MicroSoft Office and due to upgrades in hardware, reloaded his 
program several times. He eventually had to call MicroSoft to get a new 
activation code so it would run. After several attempts, he threw it in 
the dumpster (a new copy at $500) and now uses Open Office (what a great 
program!!!)

Another business risk associated with Microsoft is the non ISO 
compliance of  MicroSoft software in the Office Suite. How will my 
company read documents 20 years from now if they are not ISO compliant? 
Linux is compliant!

I am not a 100 person company, but if I were, with my background and 
attitude about business risk, I would find people that were Linux 
Centric. To minimize that risk, I would have external people as well as 
internal. Companies such as IBM and HP have Linux staff and systems, and 
there are Linux consultants, even in Columbus.

A way to get the move toward Linux is to get them at the high school 
level. Schools need ways to reduce costs, and Linux desktops are a way 
to do that. Start with Open Office on Windows, then move to others. I 
have suggested this to schools. At the time, it was too early for them 
to see the advantage. Perhaps now is better. My 4 year old grandson uses 
the computer to get on Disney. He can do it with Linux just as easily. 
Children are born "ready to learn" until we kill that desire somehow.

Charlie Morrison

-- 
Charlie Morrison
American LED-gible, Inc
1776 Lone Eagle Street
Columbus, OH  43228  USA
614-851-1100
FAX  614-851-1121
We use ISO 26300 document standards available through Open Office at http://www.openoffice.org