[ubuntu-uk] Ubuntu for small business

[Alan Lord (News)]

On 27/07/10 18:42, Jim Price wrote:
> I couldn't make the Ubuntu in Business meeting a couple of weeks ago,
> but is there a writeup of what happened there? Are there any other good
> starting points to get an overview of what Ubuntu can offer the small
> (but hopefully fast growing) business?

For an SME I'd be thinking (server end first) about an alternative to 
Microsoft SBS, e.g. Email, Shared drives, Proxy, Content Filters etc.

We (The Open Learning Centre) get asked quite a lot about "business 
applications" rather than Ubuntu itself. Ubuntu makes a great OS for 
running apps like:

Virtually any Web/MySQL/PHP app,
CRM,
Doc Management,
Asterisk (VOIP PBX)
Even ERP systems.

If the new company is a startup then Ubuntu would be a great choice on 
the desktop, but if there is already a legacy of Windows and familiarity 
with it, then this is a hard sell for a small firm where the cost 
benefits are not significant enough on their own.

A sometimes good route is to use cross-platform apps like 
OpenOffice.org, Mozilla Thunderbird/Lightning and run them on Windows 
for while. This makes a transition to Ubuntu slightly easier although TB 
packaging in Ubuntu is sub-optimal currently.

Hope this helps.

Al

-- 
The Open Learning Centre
http://www.theopenlearningcentre.com