Microsoft listed Open Source software as a top "risk factor" and challenge to their license-based software model in the annual 10-K report published recently.
Competitors distribute open source software at "nominal cost," making money off services instead of the software. Moreover, these open source software companies, unlike Microsoft, "do not have to bear the full costs of research and development for the software. To the extent open source software gains increasing market acceptance, our sales, revenue and operating margins may decline." the report alleges.
"In recent years, certain 'open source' software business models have evolved into a growing challenge to our license-based software model," the reports states.
The report adds: "These competitive pressures may result in decreased sales volumes, price reductions, and/or increased operating costs, such as for marketing and sales incentives, resulting in lower revenue, gross margins and operating income."
Click here to access the report here. Do you think open source software is posing a threat to companies like Microsoft? Let me know...
Posted by romasha 4 years 41 weeks ago
Peter Hagopian has posted an interesting piece on cyn.in in the InformationWeek's Content Management blog. He finds the different delivery models of cyn.in i.e. On-Premise Appliance, On-Demand SaaS and the Open Source Edition. Here's an excerpt from his post:
Cyn.in V2 Offers Solid Features And An On-Site Appliance Option. Cyn.in v2 offers a laundry list functionality in an integrated system. I've only just started kicking the tires on the free version, but with value-minded pricing, interesting installation options, and an impressive set of features, cyn.in v2 is likely to turn some heads.cyn.in v2 has been designed based on customer requirements and experiences we gained from v1. No two customer requirements are the same and hence one plan doesn't suit all. The open source edition allows companies to download and evaluate the system features for free. Whereas the On-Premise Appliance and the On-Demand SaaS Editions give Enterprise and Small Business customers the choice to host cyn.in in their premises behind their firewall or use cyn.in as a service and take advantage of the Pay-as-you-use model. Thanks for the mention, Peter. The detailed article can be viewed here: http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2008/07/cynin_v2_offers.html
Tags:Collaboration, cyn.in, cyn.in reviews, Cyn.in v2, Enterprise 2.0, InformationWeek, Knowledge Management, open source
Views: 826, Comments: 1
Posted by romasha 4 years 45 weeks ago
328 information technology and business executives & managers took a survey conducted by CIO.com about adoption of open source technologies in their companies. More than half the respondents; 53% said that they are already using open source applications in their organizations, today.
45% revealed that the primary reason to not use open-source software at their company has been due to Product support concerns!
Awareness or knowledge that an open-source application that solves their requirement exists is lacking according to 29%. While 26% have security concerns and 22% lack support by management.
About a quarter of corporations 27% have a formal policy in place regarding open-source applications, though 18% expect to adopt such a policy in the next 12 months
Although they have full control over the code, enterprises clearly want assurance that someone will answer tech support calls. Companies offering open source need to convince their enterprise prospects that their software is backed by extensive support. Support could be offered in various ways via mail, forums, phone, online support ticketing systems or even IM.
Companies need to create special pages on their website informing prospects about the various support offerings, increase awareness of the benefits of the application and the problems it solves. This will greatly help the enterprises to adopt high-value yet freely available open source technologies.
Mass adoption of open source technologies in the Enterprises, will be a great success for the community. The requirements of the enterprises and businesses is very clear from the survey results. It is now the responsibility of the open source software providers to spread the revolution by providing reliable support and increasing awareness.
Greatest Barriers to Open-Source Software Adoption at Your Company?
Source: CIO.com survey of 328 IT and business executives and managers, April 2008. Up to three items selected.| Percentage | |
| Product support concerns | 45% |
| Awareness/knowledge of available solutions | 29% |
| Security concerns | 26% |
| Lack of support by management | 22% |
| Licensing or legal concerns | 21% |
| Investment in architecture from other vendor(s) | 20% |
| Software quality issues | 20% |
| Customization concerns | 15% |
| Not relevant to our product or service | 7% |
| Pressure on open-source providers by commercial vendors | 5% |
| Software cost allocation policies | 2% |
| Other | 9% |
Tags:CIO, cyn.in, open source
Views: 910, Comments: 0
- « first
- ‹ previous
- 1
- 2
- 3
