Novell® Migration
from Windows to Linux

Thomas Crabb

Director, IT Americas

Novell, Inc.

Brian Coons

Systems Engineer

Novell, Inc.

In Conclusion...

In an hour!

Go from this...

to this

Novell at a glance

Novell

5,800 people in our workforce

100+ locations

5 Geographies

42 Countries

IT

210 people

Organization

Applications

Geo support

Infrastructure

7.0

Educate

3.0

Market

& Sell

1.0

Staff &

Mange

2.0

Develop

Software

4.0

Consult

& Engage

5.0

Fulfill &

Transact

6.0

Support

Customers

Key Processes

Vital statistics - applications

Three Enterprise Applications

Oracle – Fin/OE

Siebel – Sales, Marketing, Call Center

Peoplesoft – HR, Resource

170 departmental and Geo applications

Vital statistics - data

Data centers

Eight data centers in five countries

700 servers

20 TB data backed up on a daily basis

SUSE® Linux

140 servers in the data center (20 percent); 3rd behind NW and Windows

40 percent of web servers; 50 percent of eDirectory servers

Vital statistics - budget

FY04 Budget - $49M

IT budget has dropped more than 25 percent in the last three years

Key areas of savings

Voice & data

Automation in the data center (ZEN® for Servers/Red Carpet®)

Provisioning / identity management

Infrastructure and desktop?

The Novell Move to Linux

March 2002 Linux Project Commenced

Investigate viability

Potential uses

August 2003 – Novell Purchases Ximian

Gnome desktop

November 2003 – Novell Purchases SuSE

SLES

SuSE Desktop

Creating an Open Source Enabled Enterprise

Why we're moving to open source – it makes business sense

Benefit to the bottom line - approximately $900K expense reduction per year vs prior desktop OS and office applications

A good investment – Rapid ROI

Security – not the current target of choice;

Control – easy to lock down; simple software updates

Showcase – driving how fast we migrate, not if we migrate

How we're moving to open source – a phased approach

Phase One – License Management

Phase One – migrate the workforce to OpenOffice on Windows

Phase Two – migrate the workforce to Novell Linux Desktop

Service & Application

Availability

Support Migrations

Power User Program

Org by Org Migration

Internal Distribution

Communication Plan

Target Group Analysis

High Level Timeline

Kick off

Feb 15

OpenOffice Milestone

July 31

NLD Milestone

October 31

Self-directed install and try it

Org by Org Migration

Training – Self & Formal

Work with project team on complex

conversions

Marketing

Change Management

Work on complex conversions

- Internal Distribution

- Communication

- Target Group Analysis

Early Adopter Program

OpenOffice Migration

Linux Desktop Migration

Phase One – OpenOffice Migration

Mission: Move 90 percent of the workforce to OpenOffice by July 31, 2004

Our Strategy:

Migrate users to OpenOffice on Windows as a first step to an open desktop

It's easy to install and start using – very low technology and initial use barriers

Focus on user training and document conversion

Make sure everyone has the same version (Internal distribution vs. open download)

Recruit advocates from the business as change leaders for their organization

Inventory and categorize documents for managed conversion

Aggressively address perceived limitations in the OpenOffice tool set

Do a controlled move by organization and role

Determine file format standards

Retain some copies of MS Office for compatibility and business need

Phase One – OpenOffice Migration

The Project Team:

Business – Leadership, Advocates, Corporate Communications, SME's

IT – Desktop, Support, Business Analyst, Reporting, PM, Training, SME's, SWAT

The Results

85 percent of the workforce using OO routinely as their office productivity tool

Remaining workforce blocked by a few key inhibitors

Phase One – OpenOffice (OO) Migration

Lessons Learned

OO is feature rich - macro's, database connections, pivot tables, transitions, indexing

OO isn't MS Office – animations, VB, embedded video, application integration

Training

Its a reason everybody fears moving; but very few will want it

There are a lot of resources out there – quick reference, books, web sites, CBT

Get the software in people's hands – it will accelerate the pace of group migration

You will find extremely sophisticated spreadsheets that are really small applications

Document conversion falls into three buckets – just open it (95 percent); need some help (four percent); shift to work around (less than one percent)

The best way to get people to move is to put executive documents in OO – target these

There are hard blocks for a few cases

Spreadsheets over 32K rows

Direct application plug-ins (e.g., analytics tools)

High iteration external documents – conversions seem to decay

Keep your workforce informed

The OpenZone

Phase Two – Linux Desktop Migration

Goals must be clearly set and driven by company leadership

IT must lead by example

50% on single boot Linux machine by Feb. 28

80% on single boot Linux machine by May 31

Remainder of Novell

10% on single boot Linux machine by Feb. 28

30% on single boot Linux machine by May 31

50% on single boot Linux machine by Aug. 31

80% on single boot Linux machine by Oct. 31

100% of employees to have Linux installed and experiencing it on a regular basis by May 31

Phase Two – Linux Desktop Migration

Our Strategy:

Use Red Carpet to manage software updates

Recruit early adopters from each organization – technical pioneers

Start business analysis early – identify roles and role requirements by organization

Deliver applications in the browser where possible

Recruit power users from each organization to help with transition

Target migration by role and organization; be ready to manage the one-off's

Provide options for migration (do it yourself, work with me, do it for me)

Make it quick and easy to move – back to work the same day; back to normal in a week

Offer dual boot as a safety net early in the migration, then move to single boot

Phase Two – Linux Desktop Migration

The Work in IT

Services – Make services Linux-ready (file, print, email, VPN, authentication)

Business Analysis – map applications to roles and organizations; assess business readiness

Applications – find the right model(s) for application delivery

Native – easiest for web applications (that don't use Active x)

Emulation – WINE implementation CrossOver Office

Terminal Services – light client option works well with Linux and Mozilla

Applications – update/upgrade where required or find an alternative

Training – FAQ, quick Reference, lunch and learn, webcast, classroom, executive

Desktop

Migration tools – instructions & scripts for do it yourself users

HW assessment, standards, images

Migration Station

Phase II – Linux Desktop Migration

Goals of the Migration Station

Migrate user from Windows to a Dual Boot configuration in one hour or less

preserve user data

boot into Linux or Windows

preserve preferences by retaining user's environment

Initial target was laptop users

Major corporate sites with large user populations were targeted first

IBM Thinkpad T40p

Drive bay adapter (replaces optical drive),
external USB drive adapter

Migration Station Configurations

HP EVO D530

Dell Optiplex GX270

both machines were P4 3Ghz, 80GB HD, Tower Case

two separate machines to overcome compatibility
issues with HD controllers

Phase II – Linux Desktop Migration

Laptop

Desktop

Phase II – Linux Desktop Migration

Migration Station Software Considerations

Symantec Ghost v8.0

Acronis True Image v7.0

ability to handle file systems (NTFS, EXT3, Reiser)

licensing

Our experience...

Phase Two – Linux Desktop Migration

The Work in the Business

Early adopters – work with IT to see if their organization can function on Linux

Power users – validate applications and be a resource for their organization

Leadership – model the way; decide when their organization will move

Corp Comm - Corp Comm – Market the benefits, tools, resources, results

Everybody – take the time to make the jump

The Results

60+ percent of the workforce running Novell Linux Desktop

Enterprise applications available and tested on the Linux desktop

Many departmental applications work native with no change (delivered via browser)

Crossover Office used for some applications

Terminal server retained for existing terminal server applications

One application rewritten; several upgraded

Phase Two – Linux Desktop Migration

Phase Two – Linux Desktop Migration

Lessons Learned So Far

Desktop

Linux HW support is advancing extremely fast; the major players standard HW works

The farther you move from mainstream HW, the harder it will be to run Linux

Linux desktops require the same level of HW as MS desktops

Migration tools

Migration station addresses user fears (we hold a copy of the data for a few days)

Avoid the worst case scenario – data loss

Services

Address email first, then file and print; understand where VPN is needed

Applications

Web-delivered applications will be easier to migrate

Use terminal server as a bridge technology – it can be expensive as a sole option

Upgrade to Mozilla-ready versions before migration starts (Mozilla runs on Windows)

Make sure you don't spend more on emulation than you save on Windows

Phase Two – Linux Desktop Migration

Lessons Learned So Far

Training – train users on the Linux desktop (how do I do my job); not on Linux

Early adopters

Give the technical enthusiasts an outlet; they'll work hard to get their business moved

Early adopters will become effective advocates and resources during migration

Power users

Pick business enthusiasts instead of technical; they'll help make it real

Make sure you find change leaders – not just the people who aren't busy

General

Address the casual use policy early (e.g., what about my digital photo tools)

Practice, practice, practice with your Customer Support organization

Get IT there first

Understand change management and the stages of mourning

Find a way to align with the corporate culture or imperatives; it will be work

Phase Two – Linux Desktop Migration

Phase Two – Linux Desktop Migration

Phase Two – Linux Desktop Migration

Question & Answer

2003-12-08T12:43:39