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Microsoft sets higher prices for SBS, Essential server packages
,----[ Quote ]
| The basic price represents an 82% increase over the non-Software Assurance
| basic package for SBS 2003 R2, which currently sells for $599 with five CALs.
`----
http://www.betanews.com/article/Microsoft_sets_higher_prices_for_SBS_Essential_server_packages/1210695344
Yes, that's what *small* businesses need at times of depression/recession.
Recent:
Running a business on desktop Linux
,----[ Quote ]
| This paper surveys Linux's suitability for use by owners of very small
| businesses and the self-employed. It was written by Howard Fosdick, a
| self-employed database consultant who finds Linux fairly well-suited to his
| needs, and reckons it has saved him thousands of dollars in recent years.
`----
http://www.desktoplinux.com/articles/AT7506682379.html
Sun launches SMB initiative for complete open source solutions
,----[ Quote ]
| Sun Microsystems Inc. says it has rolled out a small to mid-sized business
| (SMB) initiative designed to make it easy and affordable for SMBs to buy
| Sun's open source solutions and to alter the perception Sun is strictly
| a "large enterprise vendor".
`----
http://www.echannelline.com/usa/story.cfm?item=23054
Vyatta unveils open source appliance for SMBs
,----[ Quote ]
| With Linux-based open source routing software on x86 commodity processing
| hardware, Vyatta claims it can offer functionally equivalent routing at a
| fraction of the cost of leading manufacturers. The company recently disclosed
| results of a study that it claims showed a 10-fold increase in
| price/performance over a Cisco 7200 router.
`----
http://www.linuxworld.com.au/index.php/id;1714872066
Free and Open Source Software Guide for SMEs
,----[ Quote ]
| Two EU-funded projects in the area of Free and Open Source Software (F/OSS),
| namely OpenTTT and FLOSSMETRICS, have recently published a F/OSS guide for
| SMEs. Different types of software applications and businesses are addressed,
| making this guide useful for most SMEs that wish to simply use F/OSS or even
| build a F/OSS-based business approach.
`----
http://www.zeapartners.org/articles/guide-for-smes001
Linux well suited to SMB market
,----[ Quote ]
| "Small businesses are looking to save money on technology," says Kamini
| Rupani, a product director with Avocent. "In a time of tightened licensing,
| escalating software costs, relative to total costs, and low initial costs of
| Linux and its cadre of tools, SMBs are looking at the strategy of considering
| open-source software.
|
| Linux is well suited for a smaller organization because it scales
| incrementally without large initial cash outlays. SMBs can tailor their
| enterprises to better fit their needs with Linux."
`----
http://www.itbusiness.ca/it/client/en/home/News.asp?id=47379&cid=11
Linux for the SMB market: slow? steady? or both?
,----[ Quote ]
| Everywhere you turn nowadays, another company is targeting the Small and
| Medium Business (SMB) marketplace. SMBs are growing, and represent a segment
| of the IT market that has not been fully exploited by many, including open
| source software vendors that boasted early successes with large enterprises.
|
| [...]
|
| Nearly three years ago, AMI Partners researched the Linux penetration into
| the SMB marketplace. According to their research, Linux had penetrated about
| a fourth of all companies with 100 to 249 employees.
`----
http://www.linuxworld.com/news/2008/022808-linux-smb.html
Related:
Follow the money in SMB open source market
,----[ Quote ]
| Where Microsoft has developed an enormous business in training re-sellers,
| and finding them prospects, open source vendors have barely begun this
| process.
|
| You might call it Ballmer’s Revenge, because it’s Steve Ballmer who deserves
| the credit for building this organization.
`----
http://blogs.zdnet.com/open-source/?p=1817
Few UK businesses are using ERP systems, official figures show
,----[ Quote ]
| Research carried out for the first time ever by the Office for National
| Statistics found that only 6.5% of 8,000 businesses surveyed were using ERP
| systems in 2006 – a figure that rose to 37.2% for the largest companies with
| more than 1,000 employees.
|
| Weighted figures, adjusted to take account of the proportions of businesses
| of different sizes across the UK, show that less than a third of all UK
| companies – 30.2% - are estimated to be using ERP systems.
`----
http://www.computerworlduk.com/technology/applications/enterprise/news/index.cfm?newsid=6662
Can a small business afford not to run Linux?
,----[ Quote ]
| Small businesses are considered by many as the backbone of a healthy economy.
| Collectively, they are by far the biggest employer of labour but individually
| they are most vulnerable to changes in the economic climate. Keeping their
| computer systems running as smoothly and as cost effectively as possible is
| mandatory and therefore, for a small business, so is Linux.
`----
http://www.itwire.com/content/view/15298/1023/
QuickBooks For Linux
,----[ Quote
| Yes! Linux PLEASE! We have completed an evaluation of the latest Ubuntu
| distribution of Linux, version 6.10 ("Edgy"), and we believe it is not only a
| better business desktop than Windows XP, but once a few (free) items such as
| Beryl are added in it is superior to Microsoft Vista. Ubuntu would be our
| business desktop of choice, but the main item holding us back is Quickbooks.
| I am sure this is true for many generic business desktops.
`----
http://community.intuit.ca/discussion/index.php?showtopic=21054
Intuit QuickBooks Enterprise Enters Linux Fold
,----[ Quote ]
| The move acknowledges that Linux has found a home in some business
| accounts, at least in the back office. Until now QuickBooks
| Enterprise shops had to run their accounting database on a
| Windows server even if they ran other applications on Linux.
| That now changes.
`----
http://www.crn.com/small-business/199903645
Going Open for SMB?
,----[ Quote ]
| If you're looking for a way to get documents prepared, run what-if scenarios,
| and create sales presentations to show in a customer's office, then
| OpenOffice.org 2.3 is a very realistic option.
`----
http://weblog.infoworld.com/smbit/archives/2007/10/going_open_for.html
Free Software for the SMB
,----[ Quote ]
| With more than 25.8 million small businesses currently in the U.S. and
| 671,000 new companies getting started every year, purveyors of free business
| software have lots of potential customers to attract. Open source vendors
| provide a wide collection of free software.
`----
http://www.linuxinsider.com/rsstory/59837.html
CorraTech Integrates Open Source Business Apps
,----[ Quote ]
| Open source software service firm CorraTech launched Opensuite. The release
| is an open source-based integration of rich e-mail, document management and
| CRM. "Integrating rich e-mail and CRM has a lot of potential," said Bernard
| Golden, CEO of Navica and author of Succeeding with Open Source.
`----
http://www.linuxinsider.com/rsstory/59840.html
Novell Unveils Workgroup Suite for Small Businesses
,----[ Quote ]
| "Small businesses are increasingly interested in Linux," said Ray
| Boggs, vice president of Small/Medium Business Research at IDC.
`----
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070613/aqw048.html?.v=16
The hidden roadblock - What is stopping SMB adoption of GNU/Linux?
,----[ Quote ]
| What's left is to encourage this ecosystem to flourish and to educate
| SMB's and ISV's on the benefits of GNU/Linux based networks for
| their business. Surely, both will be hesitant to change applications
| and development platforms, so there is no easy road ahead. Platform
| transition is not a trivial pursuit, but as more applications are
| available on GNU/Linux, it is visible on the horizon.
`----
http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/blogs/what_is_stopping_SMB_adoption_of_gnu_linux
Virtualization fits in small business
,----[ Quote ]
| The advent of high-performance workstations and servers based on
| Windows, Linux and similar technologies brought the benefits of
| virtualization to small- and mid-size businesses that might have
| only a limited IT staff and an even more limited budget.
`----
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-6178803.html
Small businesses are ripe for free software
,----[ Quote ]
| Of course, the initial appeal for a business is the same advantage
| that I first noticed about many free software applications: the zero
| acquisition cost. The ability to acquire these programs for free
| allows you to spend your limited capital funds in areas that
| generate profits for your company. In my initial scenario, we
| purchased one more PC than originally planned with the savings.
|
| [...]
|
| Whether you are a new business, at the point where your start-up
| expenses are exceeding your revenues (if any revenues yet), or a
| current business owner wanting to be frugal with your expenses
| and investments, you can find a free software application for
| your company.
`----
http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/blogs/small_businesses_are_ripe_for_free_software
Are SMBs Missing the Open Source Boat?
,----[ Quote ]
| "One of the frustrations shared by many SMBs is the lack of
| affordable customization capabilities for business software,"
| said Red Hat Exchange Product Director Matt Mattox, "[but] this
| is where open source solutions can make the most headway. ... The
| longer-term opportunity is to engage the open source community to
| develop customized solutions for a wide variety of SMB niches.
`----
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/56865.html
Verio Targets SMBs With Linux-Based Managed Server Release
,----[ Quote ]
| Verio's Linux MPS is built on Red Hat Enterprise Linux ES version 4 and
| comes bundled with dedicated, enterprise-level hardware, a highly
| secure managed hosting Get FREE CDN for 3 Months.
`----
http://www.linuxinsider.com/rsstory/56960.html
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