| Are you looking for innovative ways to increase your | | | | you to at least become a bit more knowledgeable to |
| ROI, your bottom line and downright save a ton of | | | | its uses. |
| money on your IT costs? Let me answer that for | | | | These are some useful links to help get you started |
| you! Of course you are, you would not be a savvy | | | | on the Open Source road. (for the latest is Open |
| business owner if you did not seek out ways to | | | | Source technology for small business owners) (the |
| stretch your money. Drum roll please, introducing | | | | world's largest Open Source software development |
| Open Source technology a new way for small | | | | web site) (Open Source software repository site) (a |
| businesses to even the playing field with their | | | | collection of high quality Free and Open Source |
| enterprise and big boy competitors. | | | | Software.) (a collection of over 100 free/Open |
| Why is this important? You now have access to the | | | | Source software for home and business.) (Open |
| same or comparable solutions that normally costs | | | | Source Technology Consultants) |
| hundreds if not thousands to implement and deploy. | | | | Top Open Source Applications for your small business |
| Case in point, the Open Source version of SugarCRM, | | | | needs. (Great alternate to the Microsoft office suite.) |
| which is a Customer Relationship Management tool | | | | (Open Source web browser, great alternative to |
| can be had for free while one of its proprietary and | | | | Internet Explorer) (Thunderbird email application, |
| commercial competitors cost about $1,000 to start | | | | similar to Outlook) (for remote connection to your |
| per year for a five user license. Another quick | | | | computers) (The worlds most popular Open Source |
| example has Ubuntu, which is a full-featured Linux | | | | database) (database management tool) (Filezilla- ftp |
| based operating system against Microsoft XP. XP | | | | application to upload and download your web |
| Professional edition costs $299.99, while Ubuntu costs | | | | content) (Website Content Management System or |
| nothing and comes freely loaded with Office utilities | | | | CMS) (Website Content Management System or |
| that rival Microsoft's Office software suite. You do | | | | CMS) (Very popular Web server application) (online |
| the math. Remember to include per user and or per | | | | shop/ e-commerce solution) (the CRM tool mentioned |
| pc price and upgrades. Yeah, I know, you have been | | | | in this article) (project management web application) |
| suckered for a long time and we didn't even mention | | | | (Image manipulation program) (complete Web |
| the server operating system and licenses. Ask | | | | Authoring System) (personal and small-business |
| yourself, why am I paying for something when I can | | | | financial-accounting software.) (Subversion- Document |
| get it done for little or no cost? | | | | management and revision control system) |
| Using Open Source is like using "guerrilla tactics" for | | | | (WebCalendar- Online calendar program for single or |
| your small business IT needs. Does free mean cheap? | | | | multiple users) (full-featured SSL VPN solution) |
| Let's take a look. Open Source software affords the | | | | Desktop Linux Distributions Ubuntu Redhat Fedora |
| user to have software developed by hundreds of | | | | Suse OpenSuse Slackware |
| developers instead of just a few. Most of the Open | | | | You can also get the server versions to take care of |
| Source solutions mentioned here are tried and tested | | | | your business client/server needs such as Email, file, |
| solutions. Did you know that you already use Open | | | | print, FTP, Web, Database, Domain, Authentication |
| Source? Yep, in fact if you use a web browser or | | | | etc., There are many distributions of Linux available |
| use email your using opens source software. The | | | | please check for additional resources. |
| Internet is built upon open standards and runs on | | | | This list is not at all exhausting and not meant to be. |
| Open Source software. Who currently uses Open | | | | This should serve as a starting place on your journey |
| Source software? IBM, HP, Oracle, whole | | | | into the Open Source realm. For general questions |
| governments, Google, Yahoo and Amazon just to | | | | feel free to email me, if you have specific questions |
| name a few. | | | | about any software listed here try posting to the |
| So you might be asking yourself, what exactly is | | | | respective forums. A good book to read is Open |
| Open Source? Open Source software in its simplest | | | | Source Solutions for Small Business Problems, written |
| form is software that freely distributes the source | | | | by John Locke. My definition of Open Source was |
| code along with the object code (the actual program | | | | found in this book. |
| that you install and use), so that any programmer | | | | What have we learned? Before you plunder hundreds |
| familiar with the language can tweak, improve, | | | | of your hard earned or borrowed money into |
| modify or customize it without needing to ask | | | | software seek out or find someone who is versed in |
| anyone for permission or wait for a vendor to do it | | | | this technology. Research and evaluate if an Open |
| for them. For a more verbose definition, please visit | | | | Source solution can fit your needs. Remember, Open |
| The bottom line is, this model of software distribution | | | | Source Saves! |
| can give you a freedom and a savings that compels | | | | |