That said, The VAR Guy thinks you may be slightly underestimating the Linux channel. Red Hat has certified more than 40,000 pros on Linux. Canonical has launched server training in education centers. Novell is launching a road show for partners and customers.

More work needs to be done. But if VARs would open their eyes and ears and actually ask neighboring VARs whether they have Linux expertise, the answer might surprise readers…

This is largely a tactical and chicken-and-egg problem. Most of the small business VAR’s I’ve spoken with have a few problems with pushing a Linux solution:

1. Lack of people-power, Type 1. Especially in this economy, when they might only be able to afford having one employee, there is simply not enough time to learn Linux to an extent that they are comfortable supporting it.

2. Lack of people-power, Type 2. There aren’t many VAR’s at all that know about Linux. Many small VAR’s are afraid that if they are hit by a bus (or want to go on vacation), there is nobody around to service their clients because nobody else knows Linux.

3. Comfort and hubris. Many VAR’s just want to make a buck – they’d rather support the existence of their “kill viruses” broken-window type economy instead of creating new economic value. Microsoft allows them to do this.

I have ideas on how to combat this, but I’m a guy with a stable and fulfilling day job that I don’t dare quit…

Cheers,
-Josh

Initially we started by selling directly to end user organisations and over the last have slowly begun to work with a range of VAR’s.

At a technical level, were able to provide an offering that is more comprehensive than Microsoft’s, is more reliable, required less downtime and is at a considerably lower TCO (Total Cost of Ownership)

Our customers typically pay £750 Set up (hardware + software + installation) vs £3,000 for MS SBS (again inc hardware + software + installation) and ongoing monthly support is approx 25% cheaper for a fully managed 24×7 service.

Our open source approach enables us, and our partners to win a higher percentage of deals, pick up some of the smaller opportunities that other wise wouldn’t have moved forward, lower our resource needs, provide a more proactive service.

Also by using the Linux platform we are ideally positioned to roll out any other open source or commercial open source application’s (usually as a managed service) such as CRM, ERP, Accounts, CMS etc.

By delivering a managed service also helps lock customers in to the VAR as they don’t have the ability to switch to A.N Other VAR for support which helps build revenue/margin streams faster.

Whilst some VAR’s feel that they may not be ready for open source solutions this is likely to lead to them coming under a great deal of competitive pressure as their customers are likely to be wanting many of the benefits of this approach.

I believe the opportunity is in Small Business solutions tailored for specific vertical markets, e.g. printing companies, small manufacturers, design shops, etc.

All the standard functions of Microsoft Small Business Server are easy to match with open source equivalents. The big opportunity for open source is to customize an Open Source ERP package to meet the needs of a specific vertical that extends way beyond what Microsoft SBS provides.

Becoming an expert in a particular vertical using open source will allow VARs to be in control of the margins rather than Microsoft.

The VAR Guy will watch this market closely, though. And he wonders: Have you found a solid, integrated open source alternative to SBS?

Thanks for reading The VAR Guy.

Nor were General Motors and Chrysler sufficiently interested in changing their organizations strategies and cultures at the pace needed to save themselves.

Neither will any Small Business Server VARs who watch from the side-lines. They will go the way of the dinosaurs and be replaced by Small Business Server VARs who make the effort to grasp the opportunities that open source alternatives provide to slash the Total Cost of Ownership for their clients.

Thinking that Microsoft has all the answers is a recipe for organizational extinction.