Ubuntu Surveys Its Server Market ProspectsUbuntu Surveys Its Server Market Prospects

Thinking about deploying Ubuntu Linux as part of your company's IT mix? Join the club.According to an article posted today on information.com, a recent survey found that thousands of companies have now adopted Ubuntu Linux Server Edition for production tasks. What makes the survey really interesting is the fact that one of Ubuntu's greatest strengths appears to be its flexibility: "Stephen O'Grady, principal analyst with RedMonk, said he wasn't particularly surprised that Ubuntu was gaining credibility among business users. What was unexpected was the wide range of workloads it has become an integral part of.

Ubuntu 'is far from being relegated to a niche role. The distribution is now being leveraged for a variety of enterprise tasks going all the way from the mundane to the critical,' O'Grady said."

Be aware that the survey was a joint effort involving RedMonk, a market research firm that focuses on Linux and open-source software, and Canonical, Ubuntu's corporate shepherd. Clearly, it's important to take these findings with a grain of salt, although I in this case, I think they reflect some valid market trends.

While the survey doesn't break out its respondents by size, it wouldn't be surprising to find Ubuntu doing especially well among small and medium-sized firms. Besides Ubuntu's flexibility, it also offers smaller businesses a manageable setup process and a well-rounded package that includes both open-source and, when necessary, proprietary server apps. If you're looking for evidence of the former, check out our recent how-to article that focuses on setting up Ubuntu Server Edition for a variety of basic tasks.

Very few small businesses want to serve as lab rats for a Linux newcomer looking to break into the big time. At this point, however, while Ubuntu may not yet pose a mortal competitive threat to Red Hat or Novell, it has certainly earned a spot alongside them as a legitimate, business-ready Linux server distro.