Hi Mike,
I think what you are doing is a pretty good idea, and is badly needed. I
used to sell servers aimed at CAD users. It was pretty much a
one-shoe-fits-all system. I had an interview sheet, automated the install
and shipped the server for the customer to install. My target was
architect/civil engineering firms using AutoCAD. It was prefilled with
software and had install scripts for the workstations. The servers had
removable drives so I could send them a new box and have them swap the
drives if there was an issue. Worked pretty well.
I've thought about doing the same thing with a Linux box. Your project
sounds like the right direction, but I'd like to suggest a slightly
different near-term target. Aim for the small company that has a tech guy
that takes care of the computers part-time. That's what I did and it worked
great. You end up teaching him a few things and he does all the leg work.
Your support effort goes down as he gains experience.
Ken Elliott
=====================
-----Original Message-----
From: slug@nks.net [mailto:slug@nks.net] On Behalf Of Mike Dittmeier
Sent: Saturday, November 27, 2004 12:49 PM
To: SLUG
Subject: Re: [SLUG] Re: is it just me?
All of the issues being presented are noted, and and in most parts agreed
with. What I am noticing as a trend, was the original reason for me starting
my business. We keep mentioning the fact that small businesses are left in
the dark, either because of a perception that they can't afford us, or they
don't have a challenging need for us. That sounds a little reminiscent of
the proprietary software manufacturers that I'm sure we all philosophically
compete with. If I can get 3000 systems to setup that only take 1 hour to
finish, vs 300 that take me a week each, am I working to hard or not hard
enough. My feelings were and still are, that it doesn't matter. I feel that
the small mom and pop shops are just as deserving of a lower TCO as the next
business. What we are really dealing with is the legacy of previous
companies that lack the integrity to properly inform the small business
owner of what they really need to run their business. In most cases, a good
word processor, spread sheet and accounting package is all that is needed.
I don't want anyone to think I'm trying to be a crusader for the small folk
either. The primary reason for this idea was to create a templated set of
configuration files, weather they are used by SLUG members for their own
home system or used by consultants to ease the tasks involved in rolling out
Linux to the businesses they support. With enough input from folks, a set of
templates will eventually expand out to applications other than those
installed from our distributions such as accounting , payroll, and CRM
solutions. The idea here is to share information and establish a base to
learn from. Isn't that what open source is about?
Ditt
On Sat, 2004-11-27 at 11:55 -0500, steve szmidt wrote:
> On Friday 26 November 2004 10:05 pm, Bryan J. Smith wrote:
> > On Fri, 2004-11-26 at 18:19 -0500, Mike Dittmeier wrote:
>
> > > The idea in mind is to create a simple install pack that will
> > > reduce and standardize the installation of smb servers for
> > > customers as well as spreading the work on Linux.
>
> > > A large portion of the business industry is small mom and pop
> > > businesses, that I feel have been left out of the linux world.
> >
> > Most of it is due to unrealistic expectations. If you're a
> > consultant planning to cater to mom & pop shops, I don't want to
> > deter you, but it's really not an area where you want to be charging
> > money. I find it has the same problem as many other industries, the
> > savings are expected across the board, including how much people expect
you to charge them.
> >
> > I often got stuck trying to solve unrealistic application
> > requirements, where the shop got themselves into using a
> > mission-critical application that was very eccentric.
>
> Having dealt with many smaller companies I've found "mom and pop"
> companies can easily become a liability.
>
> The problem being that they for one (usually) have NO realistic
> assessment for what is needed. They don't understand the pro's and
> con's between things and have so many false ideas that one has to very
> clearly have that worked out in writing before doing anything.
>
> Let's say (for example) mission critical sounds great to them and
> someone said you can have that if you use a Dell server. Now that is
> partly wrong, as Dell is not the definition of mission critical, but a
> brand name. But they are now certain it is and you come in and may not
> notice it. If you don't handle that misunderstanding you can end up with
some weird problems dealing with them.
>
> Likewise (sticking to this example) it's highly unlikely they need a
> mission critical setup. They usually go home at 6pm and have lots of
downtime.
>
> If they do trust you and know they don't know, it can be a nice and easy
job.
> But then we come to the next problem with many small companies. Can
> you afford to work with their budget?
>
> How about support?
>
> For these reasons I really prefer real business to business relationships.
>
> > > Commercial software developers don't provide as many aps for linux
> > > as they do for Windows for a reason.
> >
> > Marketshare? But even beyond that, there's another reason. Because
> > Linux _is_ more popular than we reality.
>
> Yes, definitely. But it IS changing. And will reach big saturation
> soon as they realize this is something many will need to do to stay
> competitive,
>
> > When you see Windows, you know it is Windows. Microsoft ensures this.
> > They don't cater to vendor black boxes -- at least not until recently.
> > And even then, it's still the "Microsoft support is external" issue
> > for an OEM/vertical vendor.
>
> Yup.
>
> > > That can be changed very quickly if we can convert a large portion
> > > of these smb businesses to linux. My plan is to pull together
> > > alist of commonly used packages that provide all of the services
> > > and apps used by smb business to include accounting packages, pos
sytems, and so on.
> >
> > I wish you the best of luck. If it's a Freedomware project largely
> > done for free, it will do well.
>
> Yes, me too. If you can consult with in-house MIS and just charge for
> consulting time it could be viable. Or you better have small overheads.
>
>
-- Mike Dittmeier, RHCE, MCSE mike@bluecrabtech.com----------------------------------------------------------------------- This list is provided as an unmoderated internet service by Networked Knowledge Systems (NKS). Views and opinions expressed in messages posted are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of NKS or any of its employees.
----------------------------------------------------------------------- This list is provided as an unmoderated internet service by Networked Knowledge Systems (NKS). Views and opinions expressed in messages posted are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of NKS or any of its employees.
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