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38 LINUX FOR YOU JULY 2004 www.linuxforu.com
C M Y K
COVER STORY
LINUX For You July 2004
©
Way back in 2001, when Linux
was yet to gain a firm foothold
in India, OM Logistics took one
bold step—it switched to Linux!
And though the prime reason for
the migration was the greater
stability and reliability of Linux,
the move had a very welcome
fall out—it helped the company
save ten million rupees!
W
hen it comes to computer operating systems, Windows is
still the most popular choice for most companies. So
when OM Logistics Limited (OLL), a subsidiary of OM
Auto, was set-up as its logistics arm, it first configured its
servers and desktop applications for Windows. But then,
in January 2001, the company decided to shift all its servers to Linux—a
decision that caught many at OLL by surprise.
At first, in January 2001, only the servers in the IT department of the
organisation were shifted to the Linux platform. Only after experiencing an
all time low in server downtime, did the company decide to take the
Why OM Logistics Loves Linux
It Helped Them Save
A CRORE!
?
AJAY SINGHAL, CMD
S.K. GOEL, Head—IT
©

COVER STORY
39www.linuxforu.com JULY 2004 LINUX FOR YOU
C M Y K
©
plunge for the desktops too.
Post this changeover, the
company’s fortunes too have
risen dramatically—a turnover
of Rs 200 million in 2000-01
rose to Rs 1030 million for the
year 2003-04.
The backbone of the entire
set up is an ERP application
that was developed in-house
and, by design, was created for
the Linux platform. This
application is hosted at a server
that is co-located at VSNL’s
premises in Delhi. With over 90 computerised branches, OLL
certainly has a very interesting set-up.
The history
The main nature of business at OLL is handling bulk
consignments and that’s where the ‘Logistics’ in their name
comes from.
The company initially set up 20 computers—all running
Windows. To manage these machines, four IT personnel were
hired to handle complaints like data corruption, virus attacks
and data loss.
Around this time, Linux was just making its way into
India. The company took the bold decision to test this OS in its
IT department in January 2001. It started off by installing Red
Hat Linux 7.0 on its application and Web servers.
After tasting success with Linux on the server, the company
decided to give Linux an opportunity at the desktop level too.
This decision was made and
brought into effect in April 2001.
And the experiment soon bore
fruit with a marked drop in the
number of problems reported,
when compared to the earlier
non-Linux environment.
Today, only two dedicated
IT personnel are required to
handle the 550 or so computers
the company has, who, even at
the end of the day, have ample
time to enhance their knowledge
base and try out new things. And
no, the company didn’t have to hire new personnel—the two
were from the same team that was handling the Windows
environment.
Except for accounting, all other departments at OLL work
on Linux. As the company was using Tally for accounting till
2001, the company had to maintain all accounting data (till
2001) on the Windows-based machines. So despite the
accounting system (post 2001) having been shifted to Linux,
there is still a need to maintain two separate systems for
maintaining compatibility with the older data. To put things in
a better perspective, the ratio of Linux-to-Windows computers
in the IT set-up is 99:1.
The servers
Application server running on RHEL 3: The entire OLIP (online
interactive processing) application design has been made using
open COBOL and COBOL script integrated with Perl. All the
C M Y K
Quote/Unquote
We are using a dial-up connection for running our
ERP. When we used Windows, in case of a
disconnection, we faced data and time loss. But
using Linux, even when we get disconnected, we
do not face any such losses. Also, after using
Linux, we can actually ask ourselves—what’s a
computer virus?
—D. K. YADAV, regional manager—West
An exchange of thoughts between
Microsoft and OLL
©

C M Y K
COVER STORY
©
branches of OM Logistics are connected to this server during
the day. The number of concurrent users at any time is
between 200 and 300. Using the application server, any
customer can login to the server and see the details of her
consignments on a real-time online basis.
When a customer e-mails her consignment number, the
application server comes into action. Using a Perl script, the
server picks up the details of the consignment and
automatically sends an e-mail in reply to the customer, with
the requested information.
Another way of accessing this information is through
SMS. The customer first sends an SMS to the server. Using a
Java application, the server fetches the SMS, gathers the
details of the consignment from its database and then replies
with an SMS, giving the consignment details.
Web server running on Red Hat 8.0: Installations on this
server include: Apache as the Web server, IP tables to enable
the firewall and BIND (Berkeley Internet Name Domain) to
Q. How do you view the fact that you are amongst the leaders
in Linux deployment, especially in the logistics arena?
The OM Group has always been vibrant to new
technologies and has been a pioneer in adopting
new IT operating systems. Linux has helped us
work in a secure environment with faster
accessibility to all IT applications. With its efficient
and smooth functioning in our nationwide IT
infrastructure, we see a bright future for Linux in
India’s logistics industry.
We at OM Logistics are always ready for changes,
which add some value to our work culture and
environment. We always try to avoid the resistance
to change. We are proud that we made this transition
well in time and made it really fast, as time is a
critical factor in our business.
Q. What prompted you to take (or support) the decision to
migrate to Linux?
The OM Group is IT-enabled across the nation. We
wanted a ‘secure’ IT environment, which was free
from all Windows-related problems—virus
infections, system hang-ups, machines crashing and
so on. Linux eradicated all these in one simple
stroke! This initiative came about because of regular
complaints of data loss and virus attacks that became
difficult to handle for us.
Q. Others heading similar companies fear that migration to
Linux can be disruptive—what is your advice to them?
Nothing can be further away from the truth! There
aren’t any problems in migrating to Linux; however,
each technology has some pluses and some minuses
that have to be considered first.
My advice to those who feel that migrating to Linux
may be disruptive would be that they are wrong and
misguided. Linux is just an enhanced approach
towards a more efficient and effective operating
system with a better and safe platform for your
business needs. It will definitely add value to your
business.
Q. If Microsoft products were not as expensive, would you have
still migrated to Linux?
Cost has never been an issue. We migrated to Linux
for its stability and reliability. Our migration to Linux
had nothing to do with saving costs. We do not
compromise on cost when our services are at stake.
Q. What are the benefits that OLL has earned by switching
over to Linux? Can you share these with the decision makers
reading LINUX For You?
One of the chief benefits that we derived was
enhancement of user productivity through less (almost
nil) downtime. The secure, reliable and flexible nature
of Linux has helped us achieve high efficiency levels.
It has also helped us provide better services to our
clients, thereby fulfilling OM Logistics Ltd’s core
quality policy.
AJAY SINGHAL, CMD, OM Logistics
interview...
The Man Who Saw
Tomorrow

COVER STORY
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©
facilitate DNS servers. Sendmail, which acts as the mail server,
is integrated with an anti-virus scanning software and a spam
filter called ‘SpamAssassin’.
Servers at the head office and branch offices: These are
Linux servers, generally with a Celeron 2.0 GHz processor and
a 256 MB RAM.
The packages installed on these servers include:
l IP tables—for firewall and routing,
l Sendmail—for e-mail, and
l Squid for Internet sharing (proxy-server).
The desktops
The IT set-up has around 550 computers being used as desktops,
and around 540 of them are running on Linux!
Since these machines have varying hardware
configurations, including those that were set up in 2001, the
distributions vary in terms of the release version, but are
primarily from the Red Hat family. They range from Red Hat
Q. What were the key problems faced in migrating desktops to
Linux?
Initially, users could open attachments to e-mails only
after they had saved them. This problem was solved
after we upgraded to Red Hat 8.0.
Q. Was it difficult to retrain people? How was this handled?
Training the first five people was definitely an issue,
but when the others came to know about the benefits
of Linux, they requested our IT department to convert
their system into the same.
Q. What tips and warnings would you like to share with IT
managers who would like to do a similar migration?
In migration, the initial phase is the most problematic
one. It is a good idea to switch the IT department’s
computers to Linux first. Then you should migrate
other systems to Linux, with instructions to the IT staff
that they should attend to the problems of Linux users
on top priority.
Q. Many say that Linux is not ready for the desktop. What is
your opinion on this matter? For whom is it ready, and for whom
is it not?
Linux is totally ready for desktops. Linux is not ready
for the desktops, which are using proprietary software
applications like those built on Visual Basic. So the
problem generally lies with the planning of the IT
managers, and not with the end users.
Q. Has Microsoft ever contacted you to migrate your systems
back to the Windows environment? If yes, what has been your
reply?
Yes, Sachin Wadhwa, technical specialist (SMB),
Microsoft met me with case studies of NDPL and
Moser Baer—companies that had switched back to
Windows. I told him “I don’t want an operating
system, which gets corrupted every one-two weeks.
I want to sleep at my home and not in the office.” I
still remember, when we were using Windows on
20 systems only, those systems often got corrupted.
And my staff and myself have had to spend nights
formatting them and reinstalling all the software.
Now, thanks to Linux, I haven’t had to stay in the
office beyond 6 PM.
Q. Are you open to the Linux community and other IT
managers coming over to see your set-up and contacting
you for guidance?
Yes, why not.
Q. What is the strength of your IT team that takes care of
this set-up? What are their key skills?
Only two personnel constitute the IT team that
looks after the Linux implementation in our
organisation. None of them have any certifications
as such. They have been primarily trained in-house,
though they did receive initial training on Linux
from external agencies in 2001.
Q. How difficult is it to get personnel trained in Linux?
With our present infrastructure, a fresher can be
trained within a month.
S.K. GOEL, Head—IT, OM Logistics
“Thanks to Linux, I
haven’t had to stay in the
office beyond 6 PM”
interview...

C M Y K
COVER STORY
©
7.0 to Fedora Core 1. In addition, the following utilities have
been installed for desktop users:
l OpenOffice—the common office suite to provide word
processing, spreadsheet applications and presentation tools,
l Evolution/Netscape for e-mail as per the user’s choice, and
l Mozilla and/or Netscape—as Web browsing tools.
The software
Linux is the soul of the entire IT environment at OM Logistics,
but the business intelligence lies in the suite of applications
that have been developed in-house.
Consignment tracking system: This software is responsible
for the overall tracking of all the consignments. It allows users
across the Indian subcontinent to check the status of any
consignment, either through an e-mail or SMS. Trucks that are
owned by the company use a GPRS (General Packet Radio
Service) system, which enables them to provide a real-time
status update on the location of any consignment.
For trucks that are hired from external agencies, two
alternate methods are employed. One involves manual
tracking, where the truck driver is given a cell phone and a
person from the company keeps calling him up at intervals to
check his position. The other method is through an IVR
(interactive voice recognition) software. This software
automatically locates the position of the truck carrying the
cargo whenever the truck driver calls the company, thanks to
the caller-identification facility.
Online warehouse management system: This Linux-based
software manages and provides the status of the stocks in
the warehouse.
Q. What do you feel about working with Linux?
SD: Excellent. Initially, I did have many apprehensions
about working on Linux, but now, I believe that Linux
is equally good, if not better, than Windows.
AB: It is an excellent platform to work on. Initially, it
was a bit difficult to adjust with because of some
unidentified commands, but very soon, we were well
versed with Linux. Now we feel more comfortable and
satisfied working with this operating system.
Q. When you joined this company and were asked to work in
this new environment—what problems did you face?
SD: None at all.
AB: We never faced any problem in adopting to Linux.
I guess major credit goes to our IT team too, as they
were proactive in their approach, and were able to sort
out the issues speedily.
Q. How was your training handled?
SD: The training was surprisingly easy, contrary to our
apprehensions. Within 15 minutes, we were fairly
adapted to the Linux environment.
AB: Our IT staff took the initiative, and within a very
short span they got us accustomed to Linux and the
software pre-loaded with it.
Q. Do you still miss the Windows environment?
SD: Not really...in fact I personally do not miss Windows
at all.
AB: Windows...what Windows?
Q. What benefits do you get from this Linux environment?
SD: It just does not hang.
AB: Security, and zero viruses.
Q. Any advice for Linux/OSS developers (vendors)?
Both: There should be more wallpapers and screen
savers.
WWWWWorking with Linorking with Linorking with Linorking with Linorking with Linuxuxuxuxux
LFY spoke to Shantanu Dutta (SD), country manager, and
Akash Bansal (AB), head—logistics, at OM Logistics, to
get their views on working in a Linux environment.
Shantanu Dutta, country
manager, OM Logistics
Akash Bansal, head—
logistics, OM Logistics
IT department at Om Logistics
Quote/Unquote
The vehicle-tracking department works
24x7x365. Our nature of work does not allow
for failure even for a few minutes. Thanks to
Linux we are able to achieve zero-failure.
—SUKHVIR SINGH, head—Tracking Department

COVER STORY
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Contracts management software: All customer contracts are
managed through this system. These bills are posted
automatically into the accounts software without any manual
intervention.
Costings analyser: The costing software is used to track
expenses on individual consignments. It can then be used to
analyse the profit and loss situation for any consignment.
Sales analyser: As the name suggests, this application helps
to view and compare sales figures across the board.
Loading reports: This module is used to generate an
employee-wise loading report and helps in the performance
appraisal of the employee. In addition, it helps to fix
responsibility in case of any damage or shortage of goods.
Financial accounting: This software is fully integrated with
all the other modules. It can be used to generate the balance
sheet of the company at any point of time.
Cost savings
On a broader perspective, OLL estimates that it has incurred
savings in the following areas:
One time cost per PC:
l Windows operating system
l Microsoft Office
l Anti-virus client
Recurring costs with every new system:
l Bandwidth costs
l Software upgrade costs
l Manpower costs
As Table 1 shows, the amount that the company saved on
the Windows OS taking a minimal cost of Rs 3540 (for an OEM
pack) is Rs 1,911,600 (Rs 1.91 million approx.).
Switching over to Microsoft Office, whose OEM pack is for
roughlyRs11,150,savingswouldhavebeenaroundRs6,021,000
(Rs 6.02 million approx.). As for anti-virus, an approximate
saving of Rs 970,380 (Rs 0.97 million) has been made.
Coming to recurring costs, bandwidth costs for the company
have come down by around 50 per cent since the switch from
Windows to Linux. The company has a 24-hour Internet
connection and was prone to virus attacks that automatically
send infected mails to their contact lists. These attacks
consumed bandwidth considerably. With Windows, the cost
per terminal due to these problems was amounting to around
Rs 1000 per terminal per month. But after using the caching
and proxy services of Linux-based servers, the bandwidth
consumption has halved, saving around Rs 500 per month per
system. This has resulted in an approximate saving of around
Rs 3 million per year.
And, costs have also fallen since the overall staff strength
here has been reduced to half!
Keeping aside the upgradation costs (the need and costing
of which can be always debated), and that of the staff cost—
OLL managed to save approximately Rs 8 million in one-time
setup costs plus a recurring saving of approximately Rs 3
million per year in bandwidth costs.
How they did it
Initially, the management decided to train the IT staff internally,
but when that did not work out, a consultant was hired.
After the initial success of Linux on the servers, the company
decided to shift all the desktops also on to the same platform.
The Windows users were encouraged to switch to Linux by
emphasising its stability and reliability.
On the hardware front, the only problem faced was with
some older systems that had SYS-6215 display cards. These
machines were loaded with either Red Hat 7.3 (or a higher
version) or upgraded to a new card, costing Rs 400.
So, one important pro-Linux move helped OM Logistics
save nearly ten million rupees. Maybe it’s time for your
company to think on the same lines!
By: Rahul Chopra, Akansha Pradhan, LFY Bureau.
Quote/Unquote
As we initiated Linux on our systems we could
feel the sea of change in the functioning of our
branches. It is great to use a virus-free
operating system that enables us to work
faster, without hassles and interruptions.
—Tarun Pant, general manager
Left to Right: Samarendrea Biswal (executive, IT); Rajesh Choudhary (deputy,
IT Team); S.K. Goel (assistant vice president, IT head); Vikas Verma (assistant
manager, IT)
Table 1: Expenses that were saved
Software Price For 540 users
Windows OS Rs 3540 (OEM pack) Rs 1,911,600
Microsoft Office Rs 11,150 Rs 6,021,000
Anti-virus Rs 1797 Rs 970,380
(Estimated street price)

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