How Open Source Can be SMB Friendlier

Jul 07, 2009, 17:34 (0 Talkback[s])
(Other stories by Todd Weiss)

""My job is just to take their pain away and make the problem go away for them," he said. "They don't care" what's under the hood.

"To Sobel, that's a strategy that more IT consultants, resellers and major vendors should be following to bring the benefits, cost savings, flexibility and quality of open source software to SMBs.

"But the problem, he said, is that many existing vendors who market open source applications continue to make the same mistakes over and over--instead of marketing their products simply for what they can do and solve for customers, they market them as open source as though that's what sets them apart.

"Yet that's the wrong message, he said. For end users and SMB business owners, they don't necessarily care that something is open source. They just want it to do what they need to get done."

Complete Story

Related Stories:

• Ubuntu is A Microsoft Product Now!(Jul 06, 2009)
• Is Ubuntu Linux Ready for the Enterprise? (Jun 27, 2009)
• System76 Bonobo Professional Review(Jun 25, 2009)
• The Proprietary Software/Linux Conundrum(Jun 25, 2009)
• Dell and the SMB open source paradox(Jun 19, 2009)
• SAP: Open Source's Friend or Foe?(Jun 12, 2009)
• Dell bundling open source applications for SMBs(Jun 11, 2009)
• 11 of the Best Free Linux Voice Over IP (VoIP) Software(May 04, 2009)
• Switchvox to Release Major Upgrade: SMB 4.0(Feb 20, 2009)
• Linux's Active Directory Killer Is A Step Closer(Jan 24, 2009)
• What Is SMB?(Jan 08, 2009)
• Dear Mr. Obama - Small and Medium Business(Dec 10, 2008)