Alfresco Software, which positions itself as an open source alternative to Microsoft SharePoint, may have found a new door into U.S. federal agencies. Here’s the scoop, along with the implications for solutions providers serving the government vertical.
First, the news: Alfresco has built a software stack that has earned the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) 5015.02 standard certification. According to Alfresco, the certification…
“enables Alfresco and its partners to extend cost-effective open source tools to support the governance, retention and compliance strategies of federal agencies, government bodies and commercial organizations.”
But this is more than an Alfresco story. The open source stack includes Red Hat Enterprise Linux, the MySQL database, Zimbra email, Apache Tomcat web server and Mozilla Firefox web browser.
Partner Program Moves
Alfresco, ranked No. 12 in last year’s Open Source 50 report, has spent much of 2009 expanding its channel partner program. Alfresco, which drives at least 60 percent of its revenues through partners, has joined channel-centric partner associations such as the Open Source Channel Alliance (launched by Red Hat and Synnex). Plus, Alfresco partners like Zimbra have been building their own partner programs.
But are government VARs ready to deploy open source software stacks? Red Hat sure thinks so. And now, so does Alfresco.
Still, let’s keep all of those open source government talk in perspective. Although privately held Afresco reportedly is profitable and growing, rival SharePoint is now a $1 billion annual business for Microsoft.
Clearly, Alfresco wants a bigger slice of that pie — especially in the government market.
Follow The VAR Guy via RSS; Facebook; Identi.ca; Twitter; and via his Newsletter;Webcasts and Resource Center. Plus, check out more channel voices atwww.vartweet.com.
Read More About This Topic
Share This Post
Tags: RHEL | Synnex
Interact: Add a Comment | Trackback Link | Permalink
Subscribe: RSS Feed
As a general rule I think it’s fair to say the feds are moving faster to open source than Global 2000 companies. The mandate is save, save, save on IT and the thesis is open source delivers those savings. Is the thesis correct? Not always. But the trend toward open source in government agencies seems unstoppable.
Frankie: Alfresco has nice momentum. But the VAR Guy is quick to point out Microsoft’s continued momentum with SharePoint. $1B in annual US revenues is impressive. Since Alfresco is privately held it’s difficult to make a head to head comparison vs. SharePoint… regardless of vertical market.
-TVG