Canonical Delivers Ubuntu Advantage Offering

Canonical is preparing to introduce a new service option for Ubuntu Linux users, known as Ubuntu Advantage.

Slated for official release on June 7, Ubuntu Advantage is a comprehensive service that combines systems management tools, technical support, access to online resources, training and legal assurance, Canonical officials said.

Ubuntu Advantage is designed to help businesses who have deployed Ubuntu as a desktop or server solution to become more successful in their adoption of the platform. The new subscription package gives organisations a single service to underwrite their investment in Ubuntu and is split into different service levels to cater to the different uses of Ubuntu in business.

Ubuntu in the enterprise

“It has become clear as the use of Ubuntu in the enterprise increases, that businesses are now using Ubuntu in more areas of business than before, including as a cloud platform.” said Neil Levine, vice president of corporate services at Canonical, in a statement. “Ubuntu Advantage provides the set of services that companies need to make Ubuntu a core part of their IT strategy. Flexible pricing and a choice of service levels means any business can realise what our customers already experience – that to optimise your Ubuntu deployment, engaging with the appropriate Canonical service is the easiest and fastest route to success.”

Canonical’s Landscape web-based systems management and monitoring tool is central to the Ubuntu Advantage service. It significantly reduces the time required to manage large numbers of machines by enabling systems administrators to manage multiple machines as easily as one – including physical, virtualised and even cloud platforms. Landscape can automate repeated tasks, provide consistency and eliminate errors, the company said.

“Landscape saves us many hours a week that we can now spend optimising our existing services and developing new offerings for our brand serverloft to increase our competitive advantage,” said Guido Nickels, head of system administration at PlusServer AG.

Ubuntu Advantage for desktop

Ubuntu Advantage comes in three flavors for server users and two for desktop users. Ubuntu Advantage comes in Essential, Standard and Advanced flavors for Ubuntu Server users. The Essential service is for basic common workload usage, such as file and print, email and web serving. The Standard service is for standard enterprise use and server virtualisation. The Advanced service is for more advanced configurations such as high-availability clustering. This version also comes with 24/7 advanced support. The Essential edition runs $320 (£218) per server, $700 (£478) per server for the Standard edition, and $1,200 (£820) for the Advanced edition.

The desktop version of Ubuntu Advantage comes in Standard and Advanced editions. The Ubuntu Advantage Standard desktop edition is for general business activities such as email and web browsing. The Advanced desktop edition is for more intensive desktop use, such as development work. The Standard desktop edition runs $105 (£72) per desktop and the Advanced edition runs $165 (£113) per desktop.