By the end of 2004, Microsoft is expected to discontinue support for the Windows NT operating system and discontinue the availability of security patches, which will require up to two million customers to develop a migration strategy. As customers around the globe make the decision to migrate to a new platform, many will consider Linux, which is gaining popularity in a variety of industry sectors, including government, retail, finance and manufacturing because of its reliability and low cost. Linux is a top choice of customers and Business Partners who choose to migrate from a Microsoft operating system.

IBM anticipates an increase in customer migrations this year due to the end-of-service date for Windows NT and the lack of security support for the operating system. To meet this growing demand, IBM has made available a series of programs for Business Partners that include education, tutorials and six customer scenarios that illustrate typical migrations.

IBM will offer free Windows NT-to-Linux-migration classes to qualified IBM business partners, delivering education and training to its 90,000 Business Partners located around the world. The classes, many of which will be held in IBM Linux Centers, will provide a hands-on environment featuring IBM software and hardware for partners to learn how to plan and deliver a successful migration.

For those partners that are not able to attend a migration class in person, detailed technical information will be available through a free download over the Web.

In addition to new migration classes, IBM will deliver Business Partner programs, known as the Windows NT-to-Linux-Migration Program, that include education and pre-tested workload solutions for businesses looking to replace their NT platform with an easy-to-use offering that runs on Linux. These key solutions will be available for a number of critical infrastructure needs, including collaboration, database management, security, systems and network management, Web and application serving, along with file and print serving.

"The lack of support for Windows NT, along with the discontinuance of security patches for the operating system, will impact millions of customers around the world as they migrate to a new platform," said IBM's Scott Handy, vice president, Linux strategy and market development. "IBM Business Partners are responding to customer demand by offering Linux as a migration option in addition to Windows Server 2003. Since IBM offers solutions that support both Windows and Linux servers, IBM Business Partners and customers have the flexibility to select the platform that best meets their needs."

New IBM "Windows NT-to-Linux-Migration Program" Activity

The Move2Lotus program will give customers using competitive messaging and collaboration products, including Microsoft Exchange running on Windows NT, the tools and services they need to migrate to Lotus Domino running on Linux. The program includes discounts on software and services for customers that migrate from other platforms to Lotus Domino running on Linux for any IBM eServer including the zSeries mainframe. Customers are interested in the reliability and performance of the Linux platform, along with the scalability and server consolidation capability IBM zSeries delivers.

The Migrate Now! Offering is a comprehensive selection of products and services that help Business Partners migrate customers from Microsoft SQL Server to DB2 Universal Database running on Linux. The offering also includes an updated version of the DB2 Migration Toolkit.

IBM will also be delivering programs surrounding Tivoli offerings that span security, systems and network management areas as businesses migrate this capability to Linux. Business Partners can also utilize existing programs for WebSphere infrastructure software offerings, which will address Web and applications serving needs running on Linux.

A number of key Business Partners have already signed up to participate in the programs, including DSG Linux Services Group, Sytek, Avnet and others. Independent Software Vendors (ISVs), such as Checkpoint, TrendMicro and SourceFire that provide firewall protection, anti-virus and security applications, are also participating in the program.

"By participating in these new IBM classes and programs, I'm able to deliver more options for my customers as they migrate from NT this year," said, Bob Kusche, General Manager of DSG's Linux Services group. "NT customers are actively questioning the challenges and costs associated with moving to Microsoft Windows 2003 -- it's not a simple migration. Not all Windows applications will run on the platform and existing hardware may not handle the load. When customers are forced to make this kind of move, they often take the opportunity to create an open, standards-based infrastructure that will give them investment protection and flexibility -- they don't want to be locked into only one approach. When you take these