I have been working for the same IT management company for several years now and it seems with every update on Window’s end, things are made more tedious and time consuming. I think Windows is great but Linux offers more options for a small business to save money, time, and offers way better security in my opinion. I want to set up a meeting with my boss and convince him to start migrating away from Windows but I have never done it on this scale. I am not sure how hard it would be for the company.
It is a smaller business, we only have maybe 15 employees. So it wouldn’t be a huge transfer but I know a lot of things would have to change and many of them would have to learn Linux which could be a hindrance for my boss. Only 3 other employees use it at home.
How difficult would it be to migrate away from Windows in favor of using Linux, what distro would be ideal for a small business, and what key points should I focus on when trying to convince my boss this is a valuable transition?
Welcome to the community. @rexx Don’t listen to @Ben he’s a Windows lover! jk
Instead of paying licenses to Microsoft, use that budget to buy support from Ubuntu (best value), Red Hat or SUSE for desktop, small business or enterprise support.
I agree about Ubuntu being the best option for something like this.
I would highlight with your boss that it would mean better protection without the cost. Ubuntu comes with built-in protection including anti-phishing, anti-virus, and a firewall. You also lower the risk of having to deal with viruses by a great deal. You can make use of Wine for any software that is only on Windows. This won’t work for all programs however so it really depends on what the company uses but there is access to LOADS of free software alternatives. Plus, Ubuntu can be set up to “feel” like Windows.
I have tried this, working with a small team. The issue is that clients almost exclusively use Windows and that is where you can run into trouble. We ended up having to switch back because running a VM ended up causing delays for us. You will have to establish what your company uses in terms of software and what services they offer beforehand.
Thank you for the information. I am going to take a look over everything and see what I can make sense of. I might be back with more questions. I would really like our company to move away from Windows. It just seems silly at this point to be spending so much money month after month when we have free and better alternatives that have been proven time and time again to be more useful.
Do you know offhand what programs and software the company relies on most that can’t be changed? That is usually where people run into issue and decide not to do it. It usually works better if you are building a company up using Linux rather than building it on Windows and moving away from it.
It would not be an easy task though to migrate from Windows to Linux. But you would have to give it a strategic push. If there are specific Windows software used by the organisation, find close Linux replacements like LibreOffice for MS Office. Cloud solutions could help in situations when direct replacements cannot be found. Make sure you use a pilot approach for the transition.
Don’t listen to 
I only use windows at work 