Open Source Technology
Are you looking for innovative ways to increase your ROI, your
bottom line and downright save a ton of money on your IT costs? Let
me answer that for you! Of course you are, you would not be a savvy
business owner if you did not seek out ways to stretch your money.
Drum roll please, introducing Open Source technology a new way for
small businesses to even the playing field with their enterprise and
big boy competitors.
Why is this important? You now have access to the same or comparable
solutions that normally costs hundreds if not thousands to implement
and deploy. Case in point, the Open Source version of Sugar CRM,
which is a Customer Relationship Management tool can be had for free
while one of its proprietary and commercial competitors Sales force
cost about $1,000 to start per year for a five user license. Another
quick example has Ubuntu, which is a full-featured Linux based
operating system against Microsoft XP. XP Professional edition costs
$299.99, while Ubuntu costs nothing and comes freely loaded with
Office utilities that rival Microsoft’s Office software suite. You
do the math. Remember to include per user and or per pc price and
upgrades. Yeah, I know, you have been suckered for a long time and
we didn’t even mention the server operating system and licenses. Ask
yourself, why am I paying for something when I can get it done for
little or no cost?
Using Open Source is like using “guerrilla tactics” for your small
business IT needs. Does free mean cheap? Let’s take a look. Open
Source software affords the user to have software developed by
hundreds of developers instead of just a few. Most of the Open
Source solutions mentioned here are tried and tested solutions. Did
you know that you already use Open Source? Yep, in fact if you use a
web browser or use email your using opens source software. The
Internet is built upon open standards and runs on Open Source
software. Who currently uses Open Source software? IBM, HP, Oracle,
whole governments, Google, Yahoo and Amazon just to name a few.
So you might be asking yourself, what exactly is Open Source? Open
Source software in its simplest form is software that freely
distributes the source code along with the object code (the actual
program that you install and use), so that any programmer familiar
with the language can tweak, improve, modify or customize it without
needing to ask anyone for permission or wait for a vendor to do it
for them. For a more verbose definition.The bottom line is, this
model of software distribution can give you a freedom and a savings
that compels you to at least become a bit more knowledgeable to its
uses.
You can also get the server versions to take care of your business
client/server needs such as Email, file, print, FTP, Web, Database,
Domain, Authentication etc.
This list is not at all exhausting and not meant to be. This should
serve as a starting place on your journey into the Open Source
realm. For general questions feel free to email me, if you have
specific questions about any software listed here try posting to the
respective forums. A good book to read is Open Source Solutions for
Small Business Problems, written by John Locke. My definition of
Open Source was found in this book.
What have we learned? Before you plunder hundreds of your hard
earned or borrowed money into software seek out or find someone who
is versed in this technology. Research and evaluate if an Open
Source solution can fit your needs. Remember, Open Source Saves!
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