“There are two main thrusts the SuSE pursues in its business.
One is the obvious software side of the business, with SuSE Linux
at the heart. The other half of the equation is the now equally
obvious services side of the business. There is no real surprise
here, either, since most of the Linux companies base at least some
measure of their revenue model on services such as consulting,
training, and support.”
“But SuSE has big plans for this part of its business, as
Hohndel indicated that by the end of 2001, the company hopes to
have 50 percent of its services revenue coming in from
enterprise-level relationships.”
“Hohndel related SuSE’s basic strategy for attaining this
goal–a strategy he is as confident about as his company’s products
themselves.”
“Once SuSE has made initial contact with a customer, it does not
go after the huge partnership deals right at the start. Instead,
the Linux software company gains the confidence of the new customer
by using its operating system and other software technology to
perform what might be a trivial task, such as a two man-week
project.”