InternetWeek August 07, 2003 Why Mid-Size Company Is Sticking By The Mac Pentagon Technologies leverages GridTalk's Linux version for tighter B2B enterprise security By Antone Gonsalves When it comes to computer systems, Pentagon Technologies Group Inc. believes in holding on to what works. And what works for this midsize Livermore, Calif.-based company is Apple Computer. That's right. The same company that sells eye-candy computers and rock 'n' roll over the Internet also provides the technology that drives Pentagon's business. While that may seem unusual, it isn't when you consider that Pentagon and a lot of other companies of the same size often rely on basic accounting or tax packages or on programs such as Micorosoft's Excel spreadsheet. But despite that low-tech approach, small and midsize businesses like Pentagon worldwide will spend $420 billion this year on technology, according to researcher Gartner Inc., and three quarters of them still won't have the latest and greatest. Given that lack of modern IT systems, new customers should be as easy to snare in the SMB market as salmon in a fish farm. But if Pentagon is any indication, Microsoft, SAP, Oracle, Peoplesoft and others that have invested huge sums of money in the market are going to have to present dramatic return-on-investment figures that would stand up in a courtroom. One reason Pentagon is unlikely to switch from Apple's Mac OS X platform is Linux, the open source operating system that has evolved into a meaningful competitive threat to Microsoft Windows. Since late last year, Pentagon has been testing and deploying Linux to see if the free OS could be used as a backup to OS X. Today, about 10 percent of the company's data processing is done by applications running on Linux and the MySQL open source database. "It's not an incredibly huge step because MySQL would run on the OS X server in just the same way," said Ross Lindell, chief information officer for Pentagon. "(OS X and Linux) are similar enough that we could leap either way. Windows, however, is much different and would require skills in Active Directory and other technologies we're not familiar with." Because OS X and Linux are both variants of Unix, Pentagon's programmers have had little difficulty understanding the open-source software, Lindell said. In addition, Linux doesn't require signing any expensive software licenses. Pentagon obtained the OS from Red Hat Inc., which makes its money providing service around open source software. Privately held Pentagon, which had revenues last year of under $100 million, services precision equipment found in plants where semiconductors are made. In addition, Pentagon reconditions parts and also manufactures equipment used in detecting and reducing defects in chips. The company has facilities in California, New York, Oregon and Texas, and all of them use the same custom-written, enterprise resource planning applications running on Apple's Xserve system. The system holds all maintenance-related information for parts and equipment that Pentagon services for customers. In addition, the majority of office and factory workers use Apple Macs. On the factory floor, the machines have been stripped of browsers and are used for printing labels and bar codes. The only portion of the company's IT system that isn't on Linux or OS X is its financials application, which is the company's general ledger. The Windows-based software was bought from Navision long before Microsoft acquired it. The application runs separately from the rest of the IT system. "We use it strictly as an accounting system," Lindell said. For business to business, Pentagon uses the integration server GridTalk from Redwood, City, Calif.-based, GridNode Inc. The server, which runs on OS X, passes invoices and purchase orders between Pentagon and its customers over the Internet. The electronic documents are written in extensible markup language, based on e-commerce standards set by RosettaNet, a non-profit group that focuses on the high-tech industry. Data is stored in a FileMaker database. Pentagon runs its customer-facing applications on a Java-based Orion Application Server from Ironflare AB of Sweden. Customers can log into the web-based software from a browser, and get information on parts and equipment in service. They also can check the maintenance schedule on equipment. Pentagon engineers who work in customers' facilities also use the same applications. Lindell acknowledges that there are limitations in being an Apple shop. For one, there's less software built for OS X than Windows. On the other hand, the majority of hackers target Windows, not OS X. But the bottom line is, for a company the size of Pentagon, Apple, and now Linux, works. And its unlikely the company will change anytime soon.