Yes of course, I would like to compare the price of OpenOffice.org 2 with MS Office-2007 here and see how OpenOffice.org 2 makes an impact on TCO.
MS office-2007 - 500$ (approx)
OpenOffice.org 2 - 0$
So on a whole TCO of MS Office - 2007 is 500$ where as TCO of OpenOffice-2 is 0$.
To use OpenOffice.org 2 you don’t need to contact any vendor or third party. OpenOffice-2 can be downloaded and used entirely free of cost and is released under the LGPL license. This means you may use it for any purpose - domestic, commercial, educational, public administration. You may install it on as many computers as you like. You may make copies and give them away to family, friends, students, and employees - anyone you like. And you don’t have to pay anything for future upgrades.
Some of the cool features of OpenOffice.org 2
OpenOffice.org Writer - A full-featured word processor.
OpenOffice.org Calc - Complete spreadsheet functionality
OpenOffice.org Impress - A full-featured presentation tool
- Compatibility with MS Office
- One-click PDF export feature that enables you to easily create
PDF files, to export pdf we don’t need any third party tools
- Export presentations and drawings to the Macromedia Flash format
Isn't it cool.....? try OpenOffice.org 2 today and enjoy the freedom.
OpenOffice.org 2 - TCO for SMEs?
Open Source Applications for OSN - 3COM
3COM is a pioneer in providing Open Source Applications for Open Source Networking. The following editorial explains what the 3COM focuses on and what they have yielded.
Open source software applications, many of them widely used now, deliver low-cost, highly functional, innovative solutions that address a number of current network challenges. To provide these benefits within an OSN-enabled environment, 3Com offers open source “bundles” of pre-tested and supported applications for use with the 3Com® OSN Module (OSN|M).
OSN Service Monitoring Bundle
The Service Monitoring Bundle gives IT managers increased network visibility that lets them proactively identify potential network problems and more effectively predict network behavior, reducings operating expense by automating problem resolution using a variety of open source solutions.
Additionally, the Service Monitoring Bundle can enhance compliance with industry and IT regulations, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) and the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI). The bundle enhances protection through an implementation of network-wide security strategies that speedily detect worms or other threats.
Four individual solutions in the bundle can be easily installed on an OSN Module using a standard web browser.
- Network Service Monitoring. Utilizes the open source application MRTG for flexible data gathering and graphical representation of critical OSN service metrics
- Network Traffic Monitoring. Utilizes the open source application NTOP to characterize “Live” traffic and identify network usage patterns, providing a wealth of network traffic data with many uses, such as detection of network security violations or network optimization and planning.
- Packet Capturing and Analysis. Utilizes the open source application TShark to allow network administrators to quickly troubleshoot both local and remote networks, detecting potential security problems as well as providing detailed information on network protocols in use
- Service Notification. Utilizes the open source application Nagios® to inform network administrators about problems quickly and enable resolution of potential service degradations
Availability, Service and Support
The Service Monitoring Bundle includes an easy-to-use web-based administration interface, Webmin, that eases installation and administration of its open source applications on 3Com OSN-enabled hardware. Support for the monitoring tool can be obtained from 3Com as described in the Software Application Support Service available for the Service Monitoring Bundle and other applications that have been tested and approved for use with the 3Com OSN Module (OSN|M). The Service includes 24x7 telephone technical support, bug fixes, software upgrades and 3Com web services for covered software applications.
Licensing
The OSN Network Monitoring Bundle is available from the 3Com website for all registered OSN|M users. The open source-based applications that the product uses are made available under the terms of the GNU General Public License V2 . The WEBMIN module is distributed under a BSD-like license.
Courtesy: 3COM Corporation
Introduction to Open Services Networking (OSN) -
Freedom to Innovate
Open Services Networking is an initiative for enhancing business networks to reduce costs, maximize revenue and more effectively address business challenges as they arise. It provides for an innovative solutions infrastructure that lets organizations, rather than their networking vendors, select the applications that best match business requirements and implement them with timeliness and efficiency. And, it further exemplifies industry leadership by expanding the functionality of its solutions beyond basic network connectivity.
The OSN initiative opens a world of new service possibilities, enabled by a single integrated networking platform that can be customized to the needs of any network environment. And, it delivers business-critical benefits:
- Innovative, Flexible Solutions
- Rapid Deployment of New Services
- Cost Savings—CAPEX and OPEX
- Lasting Investment Protection
- Increased Control of Business Operations
In 3COM's CEO words:
"A significant focus of our technology strategy revolves around leveraging best-of-breed technology and open source applications to differentiate our networking solutions through innovation. OSN represents the foundation for that strategy and our future initiatives. It has the ability to drive a significant change in the networking landscape towards open, flexible multi-vendor integration."
Courtesy: 3COM Corporation
OpenSource ERP Software dedicated to small to mid-size companies
Searching for a modular and performing tool to manage your business?
Neogia is THE solution for managing business: complete, modular, evolutionary and simple of use. With Neogia, let's build together your solution so that it adapts perfectly to your core business.
Neogia is an ERP solution based on the OFBiz framework.
UML based design and on code generation from UML models are its strong points.
Neogia covers :
* Accounting ("accounting")
* Human Resources ("humanres")
* Production Management ("manufacturing")
* Stock management ("facility")
* Quality ("quality")
* CRM ("servicemgnt")
* Deliveries ("shipment")
Courtesy: Neogia
Top ten
Here are top ten open-source applications widely in use.
1. Firefox
2. Open source CMS: Drupal, Plone, and Joomla!
3. XAMPP
4. OpenOffice.org
5. EasyEclipse
6. Custom Linux (SmoothWall, IPCop, OpenFiler)
7. Trac and Subversion
8. CRM: SugarCRM and EGS
9. Thunderbird email client
10. Windows utilities: 7-zip, PuTTY (SSH client), Filezilla (FTP client), PDF Creator, SciTE (text editor)
Open-source groupware
One of the well-known open source groupware organisations is OpenGroupware.org who wants to do ...
- Use Open Protocols
OpenGroupware find it even more important to support open protocols than to provide the source code for a groupware solution, since open protocols provide the real freedom of choice for the customer and allow integration into existing IT infrastructures.
Groupware is in a miserable state when it comes to interoperability, OpenGroupware will try to fix that issue by cleanly documenting all the protocols used by the OGo reference server and by building protocol bridges.
- Work With Other OpenSource Server Projects
Other OpenSource groupware projects like phpGroupWare or Kolab are not seen as competitors to the goal OpenGroupware.org is trying to accomplish! In contrast, given the unique nature of OpenSource projects, OpenGroupware are working together and learning from each other to provide the best possible solution for the target audience.
- Build An Excellent OpenGroupwareb Interface
Web technologies have significant advantages in various areas. Think that a web interface is equally important as a native GUI interface and our goal is to provide a high quality, user friendly one.
OpenGroupware are also looking into technologies like Mozilla XUL or DHTML to improve the usability, but OpenGroupware are committed to provide an interface for HTML 4 "only" browsers.
- Interoperate With As Many Native Clients As Possible
While web technologies develop further and further into the traditional desktop application space, OpenGroupware still do not provide the same ease of use and speed of use of native applications. Further, Internet still isn't available everywhere, so OpenGroupware need offline solutions for mobile workers.
So OpenGroupware work on integrating available native clients like Outlook, Glow or Evolution.
- Use An Open Storage
Another major problem with a lot of current groupware solutions is that OpenGroupware use proprietary data storage. OpenGroupware is going to use standard SQL databases, OpenGroupware is going to document the database schema and OpenGroupware is going to provide an adaptor mechanism to allow free choice of the database server.
Crucial business data is stored in groupware systems and should be readily accessible.
- Integrate OGo Into Office Environment
Groupware does not end at a calendar, it's important to enable a team to share information and that information is often held in the form of Office files, like spreadsheets, word processor documents or presentation files.
OpenGroupware.org aims to provide central team storage and processing facility to allow easy sharing of that information.
Their Mission: To create, as a community, the leading open source groupware server to integrate with the leading open source office suite products and all the leading groupware clients running across all major platforms, and to provide access to all functionality and data through open XML-based interfaces and APIs
Where do we get open-source software?
Open-source software can be found on the Internet, the best way to search anything on the Internet is to Google. There are also open-source directories like osdir and lot of blogs such as openSourceMantra on Internet providing reviews and information about open-source software.
SourceForge is one of the best repository for open-source projects. SourceForge is one stop shop for individuals or organizations who would like to host or evaluate any open-source software. SourceForge provides free hosting for open-source projects including mailing lists, source repositories, bugs database etc.
There are around 1,00,000 projects hosted on SourceForge, some of them may not fulfill exact requirement of SMEs as these projects are not tailor made, but most are successful and quality open-source projects which SMEs can start using with little or no customization in significantly less time.
As SourceForge provides statistics on each open-source project's activity and number of downloads, these statistics gives a fair understanding quality and popularity of a project also how many downloaded. So anybody can easily judge whether to evaluate or discard the project.
Sample screen shot of statistics of a project
Each project on SourceForge has support options like web-based discussion forums, email-based mailing lists, a support and bug management system called the Tracker system, and a web-based form that may be used to send email to project developers. If required SMEs can buy paid support for open-source software, through SourceForge's market place.
opentaps - Open Source ERP/CRM
Free yourself from expensive commercial ERP software, diffficult to maintain legacy applications, and messy integration projects. opentaps is a complete open source platform for your enterprise. Its sophisticated features and modern architecture includes a full ERP and CRM solution plus mobile connectivity and built-in business intelligence tools. Download opentaps today and see how it can automate processes, improve efficiency, and help your entire organization work smarter and better.
opentaps Open Source ERP + CRM brings you the power and features of Tier 1 ERP and CRM software with the flexibility and low cost of ownership that only open source can deliver. You can use opentaps as an alternative to expensive and inflexible commercial ERP solutions, as a replacement for in-house solutions that are difficult to maintain or extend, or as a starting point to build your unique business model and processes.
Key features of opentaps Open Source ERP + CRM include:
* A complete suite that deliver a 360-degree view of your business, from customers to orders to inventory to accounting. opentaps is one application running on one unified data model with over 700 tables, so you'll never have to do messy integration again.
* Compatible all major open source and commercial relational databases, including MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, Sybase, and Microsoft SQL Server.
* Runs on Linux, Unix, and Windows.
* Service-Oriented Architecture for easy interoperability with external or legacy applications.
* Modular and tiered architecture allows for easy modifications or additions. An add-on application could be unzipped into a directory and start running.
* Synchronize your users' contacts and calendars with their mobile phones or Outlook and Evolution clients using the built-in open source Funambol Data Synchronization server.
* Built-in business intelligence and reporting tools with JasperReports and Pentaho.
* Integrate with PHP and Ruby On Rails applications, including the Joomla content management system or your custom web storefronts, or use the fully-integrated ecommerce store in opentaps.
* Workflow for adapting to unique business processes.
To learn more about opentaps and decide if it's right for your organization or clients:
Courtesy: www.opentaps.org
Free yourself from expensive commercial ERP
The first advantage of Open source ERP applications is that it is available at free of cost. The Total Cost of Ownership is very less and this is a motivating factor to SME/SMB who cannot afford expensive commercial ERP applications. The beauty of most open source ERP applications is that they can be deployed on a regular desktop machines in order to evaluate or even in production.
All open source ERP applications are available along with the source code. This essentially makes sure that the seamless automation with respect to SME/SMB business process. With the help of small time system integrators SME/SMB can do the necessary modifications in code and without much support from the vendor.
The implementation time of open source ERP is very less when compared with expensive commercial off-the-shelf ERP solutions.
Check the following link to find various open source ERP solutions for your enterprise.
Open Source ERP Solutions
What is open source
Is a set of principles and practices on how to write software, the most important of which is that the source code is openly available. The Open Source Definition, which was created by Bruce Perens and Eric Raymond and is currently maintained by the Open Source Initiative, adds additional meaning to the term: one should not only get the source code but also have the right to use it. If the latter is denied the license is categorized as a shared source license.
Courtesy: wikipedia
