January 28, 2005

Blogs, OpenSource - SMBs are taking an interest

Blogging, OpenSource, VOIP and similar "cutting" edge technologies start out as the prime domain for geeks and companies leading their firms in harnessing technology as a tool to grow their businesses.

However, increasingly smaller businesses are realizing that these technologies are NOT just for larger businesses or geeks but for THEM.

Unfortunately blogging is still a term that many associate with as an "us" vs "them" in journalism or writing overall. But the TRUTH is that blogging is simply another way to publish online content - that's it. It's simple and makes posting frequent content in a diary like journal format very easy.

I use Blogger.com.

VOIP enables phone calls via the Internet as opposed to standard, directly connected phone lines. Since the voice is broken up into digital packets and goes the same route as an email message would its very cheap or free in some cases.

OpenSource is free software that's developed by a community of volunteers. Inc.com in an article entitled, " Open Source: It's Not Just for Geeks Anymore!" writes The big issue for an enterprise to consider when thinking about going with an open source program is how it will be supported. Unlike a proprietary program you buy from a vendor, most open source is free and downloaded over the Internet. So who do you call when you have a question or a problem? You don't call anyone... because there is no one to call. What you do is use one of the many Q&A Web boards that are available for the more popular programs. Or you use Usenet (a.k.a. Google Groups). Finally there are mailing lists devoted to particular programs. You ask a question on the Internet, and most often it is answered by someone who also uses the program. There are many companies who believe that community support via the net is better, faster and more accurate than support given for many proprietary systems. And you can't beat the price.

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