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