• On the metrics: “Our service ?”, “Call Reception”, “Account Management”, “Support Case Management”, “Support Advice”, “Overall LinuxIT experience” – the average response from respondents was
  4.25 out of 5 (1 being Poor, 5 being Very Good).
  
  
• On the metrics: “LinuxIT as value for money”, “Speed of closure of
  support case” – the average response from respondents was
  4.05 out of 5 (1 being Poor, 5 being Very Good).

Some of the anonymous customer responses were “Excellent support team, who deal with all requests. LinuxIT offers outstanding support”, “We have received excellent help from LinuxIT” and “Always fabulous service”

If you have any comments or suggestions on how we can improve, Peter Dawes-Huish (CEO) would welcome them – e-mail: ceo@linuxit.com

top

Save up to 30% on RHEL Subscriptions!
One unanimous response from our customer satisfaction service was that if we could help reduce spend on Linux subscriptions, our customers would be interested in hearing how.

In three simple steps LinuxIT could potentially reduce the cost of your RHEL Subscriptions:

	Provide your RHN login so we can audit your existing Red Hat subscriptions and asses your requirements.
	Choose a single date to renew all your subscriptions and commit to a three year term to achieve maximum discount.
	Choose a level of support from a range of e-mail, telephone, or remote access support for business hours or 24 x 7.

LinuxIT opens LPI Training Centre
The next phase of LinuxITs commitment to providing world class service and solutions to Enterprise customers was unveiled late in February. LinuxIT has opened a dedicated training suite to offer LPI training. LPI is an independent, non-profit corporation that has evolved out of the Linux community focusing solely on setting certification standards. The LPI training program is the only curriculum offering one certification that covers all flavors of Linux distributions.

Peter Dawes-Huish, CEO: “Increasingly we are being asked by customers to provide comprehensive vendor neutral Linux training. The primary growth area has been Microsoft Administrators who realize that to stay current and employable they need Linux certification and experience."

All courses will be run in LinuxIT's Managed Services and Support Suite, based in Bristol.
Each course consists of 4 days training and 1 day allocated to the exam.
There will be a maximum student ratio of 6:1.

LinuxIT uses it’s own professional consultants to deliver training. These are consultants who are regularly advising customers, installing and providing support on Linux solutions.

To express an interest in attending a course, send an e-mail to training@linuxit.com with your preferred dates from the following list:

top

Continuing on the commitment of ensuring all employees have the latest and best training – LinuxIT is pleased to announce that: Bill Quinn - Product Manager, Caroline Huish – Sales Consultant, and Alice Watts – Sales Consultant have all qualified as Red Hat Certified Salespeople through the Red Hat University.

This represents a commitment of 1 week person to complete a series of modules, simulations and assessments across the breadth of Red Hats portfolio – Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Red Hat Global File System, Red Hat Cluster Suite, Red Hat Network, Red Hat Directory Server were just some of the modules.

This is part of an ongoing commitment by LinuxIT to employee the largest number of Red Hat Certified Salespeople in the UK.

Jim Whitehurst – CEO - Red Hat “Our mission is to be the defining technology company of the 21st century. Our corporate culture must resonate with the open source model Red Hat fervently embraces. The role of Red Hat University is to support Red Hat's vision by providing access to learning and knowledge which results in systematic change; change that leads to sustainable improvement.”

top

Choose Your Linux and Open Source Partner Carefully
As ever, the best choice of Linux and Open Source partner for your organisation will depend on the size and complexity of your project, and the kind of relationship you are looking for. Each of the partner types has its place, but the ancient Roman saying of "buyer beware," still holds true today!

If you are a major corporate, with a skilled internal IT department or dedicated IT support contract then the software vendor's upgrades and support may be all that you need. If your internal IT department are already overloaded, or have other priorities, and you have larger time or business critical projects, then the strength in depth offered by the larger systems integrators could be the lowest risk option.

If you are the sort of organisation that likes to "one stop shop" from the major hardware vendors, then you have already made your decision--just be prepared to demand the level of support you need and back it up with enforceable SLAs.

If you are a mid-sized organisation, or an independent part of a large one, looking for real expertise, and the ability to integrate your open source projects with your existing IT infrastructure, then go for the mid-tier specialist.

And finally, if you are a small organisation, or operate in a specialist niche, then find a good local small independent--just be careful it doesn't end up as more of an adventure than you'd have liked.

Read the press coverage on computerweekly.com

top

Microsoft pledge questioned
Onlookers have questioned Microsoft’s pledge to change its technology and business practices to become more open for developers, partners, customers and competitors.

Peter Dawes-Huish, chief executive of reseller LinuxIT, agreed that Microsoft’s announcement should be approached with reservation.

“LinuxIT welcomes the announcement as Microsoft begins to feel its way through the open source world; however it’s a very small step,” said Dawes-Huish.

“LinuxIT would feel more confident if Microsoft committed to open source standards instead of pushing its own and it should be encouraged to interact with the open source community more.”

Read the full article here

top