Expect the trend toward multiple operating systems to continue, empowered by cross-platform management tools and virtualization.

• From a centralized management perspective, the OS supporting the application doesn't matter so long as it hooks into the management solution. From an application perspective, IT leaders want the OS best suited to support the workload, a choice based on a combination of technical, licensing, interoperability, and business considerations.
• Focus on the application, not the OS. Discover the business needs and translate these into a list of required application features. Use the resulting list to guide application and subsequent OS selection, where necessary.
• Sometimes the favored OS to support an application is not one currently in use in the data center. In these cases, embrace a new OS where staff skills, availability of cross-platform management tools, and strategic direction reasonably converge.