How Red Hat Enterprise Linux trims total cost of ownership (TCO) in comparison to Windows Server

For IT departments, the challenge of continuously delivering new services with tight budgets is constant. It is perhaps old news at this point that 80% of IT’s budget is spent to “keep the lights on” as opposed to new innovation.

By decreasing the total cost of ownership (TCO) for infrastructure platforms, IT managers can potentially free budget dollars, re-allocating them to other essential or more pressing projects. The challenge lies in figuring out how to reduce TCO by increasing IT efficiency and driving down operational costs— or, to put it simply, how to do more with less.

In a research study commissioned by Red Hat, a premier global market intelligence firm compared costs and efficiencies of two commonly deployed IT infrastructure platforms: Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Microsoft Windows Server. Market analysts conducted independent research, examining impacts on TCO for infrastructure servers deployed across 21 companies. The study sample represented a variety of industries and geographies across multiple regions in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, and also looked at common customer workloads such as  database, Web, and analytics. The study compared a like number of platforms that, on average, featured similar utilization rates.  

By collecting comprehensive usage statistics, server profiles, and data about IT expenses, analysts learned that infrastructure platforms based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux experienced 34% lower annual TCO per user compared to systems running Windows Server. The data showed that servers running Red Hat Enterprise Linux offered superior operational efficiencies and could support more users. The superior scale and density of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux platforms translated directly into lower overall infrastructure costs.

Based on expenses measured per year per user, the study recorded significant annual savings for Red Hat Enterprise Linux versus Windows in three cost categories: server infrastructure costs (29% lower), IT staffing costs (41% lower), and costs from lost user productivity (64% lower). Taken together, Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems provided an annual TCO savings of 34% over Microsoft Windows.

We’ve captured these TCO savings, including lower IT server infrastructure costs, lower IT staffing costs, and lower costs from lost productivity, in a new whitepaper that we’ve published today. If your organization is among those looking to reduce enterprise costs while increasing growth, adding new services, and improving IT infrastructure, the paper is well-worth your time. Download it here.