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| 1. PRNews Wire , CNN.com |
| 2007-09-12 |
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"Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu Chooses SUSE Linux Enterprise for 30,000 Desktops and 1,880 Servers
Move to open source software eliminates tens of thousands of proprietary software licenses and reduces hardware costs by 25 to 80 percent
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- LinuxWorld Conference & Expo -- The Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu (ELCOT) in India is
rolling out SUSE(R) Linux Enterprise across 30,000 desktops and 1,880 servers in Tamil Nadu's schools, after ELCOT itself has migrated its entire IT
infrastructure from Microsoft* Windows* to SUSE Linux Enterprise Server and SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop from Novell(R).
"The open source software in SUSE Linux Enterprise is superb," said C. Umashankar, managing director of ELCOT. "In addition, we estimate that moving
to Linux has reduced our general hardware costs by nearly 25 percent. In the case of high-end servers, the savings could be as much as 80 percent.
Even more important are the benefits for Tamil Nadu's students. There is a growing trend towards the corporate adoption of Linux, both in India and
elsewhere, so it will be a real advantage in the job market to have experience working with open source software. It gives us tremendous freedom and
choice."
ELCOT has been procuring hardware and software for the various departments of the Government of Tamil Nadu, which serves a population of more than 70
million, since 1977. ELCOT's main objective is to offer the best possible IT solutions at the lowest price, thus maximizing the return on investment
of public money. ELCOT is also involved in consulting, implementation, support and training to help meet the state's ambitious e-governance
objectives.
Before the larger and more ambitious rollout of SUSE Linux Enterprise to the schools and government offices across Tamil Nadu, ELCOT first migrated
its own in-house IT systems to Linux*. ELCOT was immediately impressed with the user-friendly, cost-effective and very secure SUSE Linux Enterprise
Desktop. The organization then worked with teachers to design a pre-loaded set of applications which could be delivered to the 30,000 new PCs along
with SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop. ELCOT also rolled out SUSE Linux Enterprise Server to the schools' 1,880 servers, which are now 100 percent Linux
based.
Roger Levy, Novell senior vice president and general manager of Open Platform Solutions, said, "ELCOT was able to eliminate tens of thousands of
proprietary software licenses by moving to open source software, in addition to their tremendous savings from making better use of hardware resources.
The decision to move to a new platform rests not only on immediate pricing considerations, but also on the potential long-term hardware, software and
infrastructure costs. Based on those criteria, SUSE Linux Enterprise is proving its value to customers around the world."
The next-generation platform for the open enterprise, SUSE Linux Enterprise is the best-engineered, lowest-cost and most interoperable platform for
enterprise computing, from the desktop to the data center. For more information on SUSE Linux Enterprise offerings from Novell, visit
http://www.novell.com/linux. For more on how customers around the globe are leveraging Novell solutions, visit http://www.novell.com/success.
About Novell
Novell, Inc. delivers infrastructure software for the Open Enterprise. Novell is a leader in enterprise-wide operating systems based on Linux and
open source and provides the enterprise management services required to operate mixed IT environments. Novell helps customers minimize cost,
complexity and risk, allowing them to focus on innovation and growth. For more information, visit http://www.novell.com.
Novell and SUSE are registered trademarks of Novell, Inc. in the United States and other countries. *Linux is a registered trademark of Linus
Torvalds. All other third-party trademarks are the property of their respective owners."....View more |
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| 2. John Ribeiro , IDG News Service |
| 2007-09-15 |
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"The Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu (ELCOT) is deploying SUSE Linux Enterprise across 30,000 desktops and 1,880 servers in schools in southern
India.
ELCOT is a government-owned agency that provides IT services to Tamil Nadu, a state in southern India. It has migrated its own IT infrastructure from
Microsoft's Windows operating system to SUSE Linux Enterprise Server and SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop, Novell said Tuesday.
ELCOT said in January that its IT projects in Tamil Nadu will be deployed around open source software, including Linux. ELCOT decided in favor of
open source software because it costs less than proprietary software, said C. Umashankar, managing director of ELCOT, in an interview in January. Open
source software is also easier to operate and has better security, he added.
ELCOT has worked with teachers to design a preloaded set of applications for the 30,000 new PCs.
A number of Indian organizations have adopted Linux. In another south Indian state, Kerala, the communist government of the state has said that it
will promote open-source software.
The Indian federal government has, however, not taken sides in favor of either Linux or proprietary software. Microsoft is working with some states
to train teachers to use computers running Windows.
As more companies in India and abroad are starting to use Linux, familiarity with Linux will help students get jobs, ELCOT said. "....View more |
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| 3. CXO Linux.com - Linux Champion ( Mr.C.Umashankar IAS, MD, ELCOT) |
| 2007-12-19 |
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"Linux Champion ( Mr.C.Umashankar IAS, MD, ELCOT):
An IAS officer with deep interest in open source, MD, ELCOT, has designed and implemented multiple e-governance ERPs at field level and
State headquarters level with effect from February 1999 onwards. Also, he has designed and implemented commercial ERPs in Universities and
manufacturing companies.
He is a guest lecturer for IIM, Banglore on e-governance training program for senior officers of government of India and reinventing government PG
Diploma program. Also, he is a guest lecturer for National Productivity Council, New Delhi on Transformation of administration using e-governance.
Why did ELCOT (nodal agency of the TN Government) opt for Linux?
We opted Linux because it provides better security and its tools are available for free. We were thinking of this change over for the past four
years. Open Source is the best available option to suite our needs. Also, if we have a dual system then we can read the Windows partition and access
it on Linux. At present, we are using NetBeans ++ for developing, JasperReports for report writing and JBoss as the deployment server.
Which Linux distribution are you deploying? How many companies had bid?
We select companies according to the Rate card. The three companies, who quoted for the tender, were Novell, Red Hat and Microsoft. We have opted for
open source systems with Red Hat in the server end and SUSE at the desktop level.
Why did you not consider Red Hat as the desktop option?
We had considered Red Hat as an option but found the user interface better in SUSE, so chose it for our desktop. The GUI in SUSE is very good and the
desktop is very user-friendly. All the necessary software is built in. Also, SUSE offers automatic partition.
Who will be providing the desktops?
We have two Rate contracts one that consists of Wipro, HCL and Axel, and the other of Acer. Presently, Acer is supplying us with desktops at 30 to 35
% lesser than the market price. Around 50 crore was alloted for the desktops, we are glad that we managed well in just 5 crores.
Elaborate the applications that ELCOT has deployed on Linux.
We have the Family card database on Linux. The database consists of 1.8 crore families and their photographs. We have made blocks to issue Farmer
card on this database. Using open office and excel, we have already issued 70 lakh cards in just 4 months. The colour TV scheme is another block we
are working on; Rs 7, 50 crore has been kept aside for it and the government would be giving about 2.5 million TV sets every year. We have purchased
30,000 TV sets. We have placed an order for 25 lakhs more sets. The TV sets would be distributed based on the information available on family
cards.
What is the kind of training imparted to your staff?
No extensive training has been provided to the first level staff consisting of 200 people. Only server administrative training has been provided.
SUSE Linux is very easy to work with and our staff is comfortable with its operations.
In case of system problems, who is providing the overhead support?
Along with Red Hat and Novell, we have some local Linux companies like Frontier Desktops and Linux academy supporting us. HP has deployed two Linux
engineers to help us with any hardware issues.
What are your plans for the rural sector?
Within the next 2 months, we will be using Linux in more than 10,000 rural schools of which 10, 880 will cater to higher secondary schools. We will
be training teachers and educating them.
Can you disclose the cost benefits to the TN government this switch over will bring?
E-governance intiative has allotted 23,000 crores for the next 5 years and by implementing open source, we are sure to save around 60% -70% of the
database administration cost. The main advantage is that the software is free and we have to pay very less charges for services as compared to the
proprietary software, so we are happy to change over to Linux platforms."....View more |
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| 4. CIO Decisions - Business Magazine |
| 2008-07-14 |
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"ELCOT - The Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu is the IT infrastructure procurement arm of the Tamil Nadu Government. Ever since its inception in
1977, Elcot has been using Microsoft's operating system. Recently however, C Umashankar, Managing Director, Elcot found the continuing use of Windows
desktops to be an expensive proposition. "The Windows systems were working out to be expensive. So we decided to change to a cheaper alternative,
opting for SuSE Linux. We moved to Linux because of the cost advantage it provides," says Umashankar.
Elcot provides consultancy services, software development and hosting and development of e-governance initiatives. Its aim is to increase the
awareness of IT in the state.
"We now save 25 percent of our desktop budget and 95 percent on our annual enterprise budget," says Umashankar. Elcot now has close to 200 systems in
their Chennai office and about 10 systems in 30 districts across Tamil Nadu running on SuSE Linux. They have also shipped several SuSE Linux systems
to schools, village panchayats and other government offices across the state (30,000 systems to schools, 6000 systems to village panchayats and 3000
systems to government offices).
The migration to SuSE Linux started in May 2006 and was completed this year. Umashankar points out that there were no changes in systems' hardware.
The high default security level offered by Linux is also an added advantage for Umashankar. "Earlier we used to spend close to Rs 1000 as recurring
cost on Symantec's Antivirus software. Now that cost is also done away with," he says. The unfamiliarity of a new operating system is not a problem
for this business head; he feels that SuSE Linux has a simple and user-friendly interface. "We now find it inconvenient to use Windows," says
Umashankar.
Earlier, Elcot would spend Rs 15,000 for a single version of Microsoft Office. Now however, Umashankar has switched to OpenOffice. He refrains from
putting a price on the annual maintenance contract with Novell. However, he does mention that he is happy with the services being provided by the
vendor. Novell provides Elcot with basic helpdesk and troubleshooting services, and also assisted the team from Elcot to migrate to Linux.
"The whole process was smooth, the only challenges were driver incompatibilities," he says. "We had some problems with the compatibility of the
printer drivers in Lenovo desktops. But that problem is now solved," added Umashankar. "....View more |
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