More than any other technology before, the Open Source and Linux world is one where the choice of systems integrator to implement your solution is a difficult one to get right.

The Linux world is one that has traditionally been ignored by the larger systems integrators because of its slow organic growth and the niche has largely been filled by two man bands dreaming of making their fortunes and enjoying their moment in the spotlight.  Neither of these scenarios has contributed much to the success of Linux in the enterprise.  The market has therefore predominantly been shaped by mid-sized organisations that could develop their own infrastructure, using their ex-UNIX in-house skills to replace ageing UNIX kit with commodity PCs running Linux.

More enterprises are turning to virtualisation to solve data centre capacity problems but finding its more difficult than anticipated.

This half-day seminar (Tuesday 5th February at Le Méridien Piccadilly, London) with key speaker John Humphreys who is an expert in Virtualisation,  looks to change that. Attendees will learn that a mixture of operating systems can be an effective way of operating; that it is possible for interoperability to reduce complexity and that there is an easier path to virtualisation.  Click here to register and see full agenda.

The key lesson is 'Know what you want.' My company has been outsourcing some web design and maintenance for over five years. The first few years it was mostly done with UK companies but two years ago we decided to cut our costs dramatically by outsourcing abroad. We decided to start with a couple of new, non-mission crictial projects especially around the customisation of open source software. I am one of those people who believe that to learn something you have to put your toe in the water but try and make sure you don't get your foot bitten off in the process.

The communication challenges were interesting to say the least and timeframes stretched. Part of it was our fault and part of it lay with our partners. The real root of the problem is that having worked with a UK company with whom you could just explain the broad business objective, we learnt over time that you have to be very clear in knowing exactly what it is that you want when working with an overseas company. If your guidelines are broad there are lots of opportunities for misunderstandings. If there is an opportunity for misunderstanding the chances are it will happen! Of course, you cannot expect someone else to know what you want if you are unclear in your own mind so try and layout your ideas on paper, plot the broad functionalities that you need and then encourage a dialogue both with the overseas project manager and the programmer who is working on it.This process should allow you both to be clear in what it is you want done.

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Red Hat & JBoss Partner Summit is the hot place to be early next year.
It is the most comprehensive Red Hat and JBoss Partner Summit since the two joined forces. The event's agenda will focus on the latest technologies, strategies, best practices, hands on training sessions and industry insights from Red Hat and JBoss. Attending the event will help you benefit from joint Go-to-Market programs, leverage the Partner Ecosystem and be successful in driving more Red Hat and JBoss business. Don't miss out, click here to register today.

Another long-time Windows user has reached an inflection point. Mike Perkowski, a 30-year veteran of business and technology journalism, is ready to scrap his Windows PC. The veteran of PC magazine, CMP Media and Ziff Davis Media suffered a Windows meltdown days ago. Now COO of Microcast Communications, Mike's days with Windows appear over.