[GNU/LinuxInIndia] TAMIL NADU: ELCOT Prefers Open Source to Proprietary Software

http://www.cxotoday.com/India/News/ELCOT_Prefers_Open_Source_to_Proprietary_Software/551-82656-911.html
ELCOT Prefers Open Source to Proprietary Software
By CXOtoday Staff
Mumbai, Aug 8, 2007

After migrating the IT infrastructure - from Microsoft Windows to SUSE
Linux Enterprise Server and SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop from Novell
- Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu (ELCOT) in India is rolling
out SUSE Linux Enterprise across 30,000 desktops and 1,880 servers in
Tamil Nadu's schools.

According to C. Umashankar, managing director of ELCOT, the general
hardware cost has reduced approximately to 25% after moving to Linux.
In the case of high-end servers, savings could be as much as 80%. It's
expected to be beneficial for Tamil Nadu's students. There is a trend
toward the corporate adoption of Linux in India and elsewhere, so it
will be an advantage in the job market to have experience working with
open-source software.

ELCOT has been procuring hardware and software for various departments
of the Government of Tamil Nadu since1977. It's involved in
consulting, implementation, support, and training to help meet the
state's ambitious e-governance objectives. It first migrated its own
in-house IT systems to Linux, before carrying out the plan of rolling
out of SUSE Linux Enterprise to schools and government offices across
the state.

Besides, ELCOT was able to eliminate tens of thousands of proprietary
software licenses by moving to open-source software in addition to
from making use of hardware resources. According to Roger Levy, Novell