Air New Zealand to eliminate Microsoft for Linux

World IT Report, Aug 15, 2002 by World IT Report Reporters

Air New Zealand, the national carrier, has moved its Windows NT servers to IBM mainframes running on the Linux operating system. Air New Zealand will replace 150 Compaq NT servers which is used for e- mail and file and print purposes, with two IBM Z800 mainframes running the Linux operating system, Websphere application server, DB2 database, and Tivoli software.

According to The New Zealand Herald, the company will then be in a position to replace 4,000 Microsoft Exchange clients with Bynari, an open-source e-mail application.

The move is expected to potentially save the company NZ$600,000 (US$277,200) in licensing fees alone. Cameron Hill, Air New Zealand spokesman, was quoted as saying the airline believed Linux "has come of age in its ability to be used by major IT users," and that the operating system was being used to reduce costs. (WorldITReport.com)