Linux Foundation Report Shows Enterprises Warming Up to Linux

Just this week I did a post on how much in demand Linux skills are in the job market. They are in demand, of course, because Linux is increasingly being used in enterprises--and not just at the server level. New research from The Linux Foundation in its report “Linux Adoption: Third Annual Survey of World’s Largest Enterprise Linux Users” confirms this fact.

"We see the growing success of Linux adoption in the enterprise, especially as it’s used for the most important areas of business, leading to the rise of Linux and collaborative development across many industries,” said Amanda McPherson, vice president of marketing and developer services, The Linux Foundation, in a statement. “Having a realistic understanding of where Linux is gaining traction in the enterprise helps to inform vendors and users about how they can work together to advance Linux and the technologies it supports.”

According to the foundation's report:

"Key findings from this year’s report show the world’s largest enterprises are increasing their investments in Linux for the third consecutive year. Industry reports for the most recent quarter (4Q12) show that while overall server revenue is only growing at 3.1 percent year-over-year; Linux experienced 12.7 percent year-over-year growth for the quarter while Windows only increased 3.2 percent and UNIX was down 24.1 percent. The Enterprise End User Report helps to inform the industry about what is driving this adoption and how market growth is shaping up for the future."

"Enterprise organizations identify Linux as the dominant platform for cloud computing with nearly 76 percent using Linux servers for cloud and 74 percent planning to maintain or increase Linux use for future cloud initiatives. In the area of new applications, services and greenfield deployments, more than 75 percent of organizations report deploying Linux in the last two years."

Clearly, there is no question about why demand is up for workers with Linux skills.  "[Linux] is considered the most ubiquitous and popular free open-source operating system," The Linux Foundation reports. "And if you demonstrate IT skills in this field, you're setting yourself up for a lucrative in-demand career."

You can find out more in this post, and in The Linux Foundation's summary report.