The major mental hurdle for any business assessing open source options is invariably that of support -  migration support (impact on existing business), user support (familiarity training) and on going support (upgrades/roadmap etc). Such concerns can and do offset the most substantial of cost savings, but what’s the actual situation?

Microsoft obviously factors into the mindset, with a 90%+ market share support is obviously more than available with tried and tested products offering guaranteed cross platform interoperability and familiarity, so much is true however it all comes at a price. I’m not here to knock Microsoft solutions, there are a multitude of reasons they presently run the business enterprise however it would be incredibly short sighted given the present global economic climate for any savvy I.T manager to not at least cast an inquiring eye over cost effective alternatives from the perceived “other side”.

Microsoft support skills are ten a penny and the sector is saturated with MSCE’s of varying levels, both experienced and “paper” (non-experienced) however the majority of todays business I.T departments rather than offering a broad range of computing knowledge and experience provide no more than blinkered “Microsoft Support Services”. A computer is actually quite a capable box of tricks if you don’t choke it with bloated software and there is indeed a whole lot more to the world of computing than the ubiquitous .DOC format (Word). Over the years there’s been a distinct dumbing down of in-house I.T skills, or should I say a tunneling into the “Microsoft way”. However Microsoft isn’t I.T, it’s Microsoft, just one option among many (the most well known “second” being Apple of course).

To highlight the situation take your mid-level car mechanic, he’s well versed and well experienced with vehicular concepts and corresponding fault finding solutions he can apply across the board from a mid 70’s Austin Mini to the latest space-age people carrier. Until electric cars become the norm we will still run combustion engines with pistons, cooling & fuel systems, gearboxes and all the surrounding and supporting gadgetry and electronics, even with hydrogen power cells we’re still going to need wheels and brakes (let’s go electric first before we get on to flying cars, one step at a time). A seasoned I.T professional operates on a similar level, more than capable of cross platform support whilst a “seasoned” I.T department should be even more so and comprehensively rounded enough to allay any fears and concerns around support of non-MS solutions whilst performing relevant R&D to offer them for consideration to non-technical budget holders.

Aside from lack of confidence with in-house expertise people get jittery around Linux due to misconceptions relating to it’s source and development. “Open source” conjours up images of community nerds with beards working away in bedrooms across disparate sections of hashed up code to produce Frankenstein-esque applications looking like something from the late 80’s, there’s no doubt such fractions do exist however in 2010 the professional world of open source solutions (aside from product cost) is actually not too dissimilar from it’s corporate flip-side with certain providers actually providing a more extensive support framework and product roadmap. Let’s take a look at two such big players – SUSE and Ubuntu.

SUSE are owned by super cool legacy networking giants Novell and offer various enterprise level alternatives to Microsoft at a cumulative 10% of relative cost for a three year investment.

Moving over to product roadmap and version support Ubuntu from Canonical take things a notch further to offer their operating system not only for free but on a regular 6 monthly release cycle with a 2 year window for their LTS products (Long Term Support – 3 years on the desktop & 5 years for server), they too provide a range of paid support subscription options alongside an extensive free on-line Wiki & technical documentation portal. When the operating system is free it certainly opens up options for paid support (should you feel the need).

Vendor support is obviously reassuring and as shown if you choose your version intelligently from one of the big players the ROI can be rather lucrative, however as discussed if you have the right blend of seasoned staff should you need it? After all how many I.T departments hold paid subscriptions for telephone support from Microsoft? Hardly any, I know as I managed corporate I.T for many years and am more than aware how it works  – you need an answer? Google it or work it out, and if you can’t do either then what are you doing working in I.T, or mores the question, who employed you?

If you’re unsure about Open Source and would like to find out more about solutions on offer TooMuchGreen offer free consultancy and would be more than happy to come and visit you to assess and discuss your requirements, feel free to zip us a request off via the contact page. As you can see, saving money is actually just a part of it (I.T).