How to sell clients on Linux

By Jack Wallen

(Jack Wallen shares tips on how to pitch Linux to clients. He also explains how convincing a client to go with Linux can have long-term benefits for your consultancy )

This article pas taken from TECH Republic. Something Foss Advocates should consider

In such a Windows-centric world, pitching Linux to clients who are not tech savvy is not as hard as you might think — you just have to know the product and know where (and how) the product fits into the client’s infrastructure. Here are some examples.

A client (an SMB with 25-50 users) comes to you with the following needs:

• Desktop for each user
• Networking infrastructure
• Server for email
• Server for Web
• Server for storage

The client states up-front that keeping the price as low as possible is key. Although this client may not be a cash cow for you, you know they are connected to a plethora of other possible clients, so you want to do as much for them as you can. Here’s how you can break this down to save them money, keep their systems up and running (with little maintenance), and ensure they refer you to their peers.

• Desktops: You will want to keep these machines on Windows; you don’t want to add Linux into the mix in such a way that will confuse the client’s employees.
• Networking infrastructure: This could be a grab bag of any hardware you want.
• Servers: You could go the Windows SBS route, but then you will have to deal with CALS and maintenance, which will raise the cost. Instead, this is where you can deploy Linux. You can either run all three systems on one machine (using a LAMP server with the inclusion of Postfix for email, ClamAV for antivirus, and rsync for storage). That server machine is going to run like a champ, costing the owner next to nothing in maintenance fees. So the client will save the cost of the OS and the CALS, as well as the cost of maintenance calls to effectively keep the server up and running.

However, let’s say that you have a client who shows an interest in Linux as a desktop environment, but he is concerned about that one application he must use that only has a Windows version. The client likes the idea of the stability and reliability of Linux, so he wants his employees using that desktop, but there is still that one application. What do you do? Virtual machines. This is a selling point that many consultants overlook. With the help of VirtualBox, your clients can run (with only the cost of the Windows license) that one application within a virtual instance of Windows on top of a Linux OS. To sell this approach, you should outline the following benefits:

• The stability and reliability of the Linux OS.
• Running the Windows application in a virtual machine means that, should something get corrupted (or break in any way) within the Windows virtual machine, the user can simply close that instance and open a previously saved, working, state.
• The virtual machine could be served up from the Linux server so that any user would have access. This doesn’t mean everyone can be running the same image at once, but it would make deploying an image easy (e.g., copy the image from one virtual machine to another).

Let clients try Linux

If a client wants to play around with Linux to see if it will fit their needs, a really good approach is to give the client a Live CD of a distribution and tell them to boot it up. The Live instance will not change their current OS, and they could get easily get an idea if Linux will work. You can take this one step further by rolling your own Live CD (with a tool such as SUSE Studio) and adding your branding to the desktop, as well as to applications you think the client will want and/or need.

See long-term benefits

There are so many ways to sell Linux to your clients. The biggest selling point is the reliability of the operating system. Will you make a lot of money using Linux? Not directly. But the customers you satisfy will keep coming back and send new clients your way.

Related TechRepublic resources

• The Linux consultant: The Maytag repairman of the IT world
• Linux can do that
• Assess open source products’ solvency for your client’s sake

Open source telephony new star at TV producer. Open technology competes in proprietary PABX world

Open source telephony new star at TV producer

Open technology competes in proprietary PABX world

FremantleMedia's IT manager, Alan Fear

When TV production company FremantleMedia Australia had an opportunity to move to IP telephony during an office refurbishment, the open source Asterisk proved itself to offer everything required and more for the 150-plus handset deployment.

The company used a Samsung PABX for about four years and a replacement was driven by a merger, the refurbishment of an existing building, and a need for more handsets.

FremantleMedia's IT manager Alan Fear, said with IP telephony being "the buzzword", the team decided to evaluate the options.

"I knew about Asterisk and it seemed like an attractive proposition, but to give the organization a feeling of comfort we needed to get commercial support, especially as it is open source software," Fear said.

After searching the Internet Fear found local Asterisk integrator Digital Armour Corporation, which helped set up a 50-handset pilot.

"It was a little bit rocky to start with as it was a hardware issue," Fear said. "We were using a Digium card and the firmware was a bit funny, but once we got on top of that it was all okay."

When the refurbishment was complete, the Asterisk system was moved to the main office in an "easy migration" and now more than 150 extensions are available for the 120 staff.

The IP desk phones are mostly Linksys SPA942 four-line phones. During the testing phase FremantleMedia looked at units from Snom, Polycom and Cisco, and while "they all worked" Linksys was chosen as it was "good looking, functional, and easy to use".

"The previous system being proprietary gave us no scope to do anything other than what Samsung provided us so there was a distinct limitation," Fear said. "One of the biggest advantages of Asterisk is we can customize it to our needs with scripting on the server or by rethinking how you use the system. Take the integration of faxes, for example. You can do this with any PABX, but you need to bolt on another server. With Asterisk we can use 10 in-dial lines to deliver faxes electronically. That saved us about 30K by using Hylafax as our fax server."

Another in-house application of Asterisk is speed dialing to and from the security company, which Fear said was an easy way ensure direct communication.

"We now have an operator console on reception, that is a big plus for the receptionist," Fear said. "It's extremely reliable and a very good system."

Regarding cost, Fear said Asterisk cost about 50 percent of an equivalent system. The company looked at Mytel, and upgrading Samsung to IP and even with buying all new handsets it was still cheaper.

"On running costs we have saved money as we previously used an external conferencing company, but now use Asterisk's conferencing facility," he said.

The conference service was costing upwards of $1000 per month.

With voice and data on separate LANs, FremantleMedia has not had to purchase anything proprietary as the system comprises a HP DL380 box with 2GB of RAM, SAS disks running the Trixbox 2.2 distribution with FreePBX, and Linksys 24-port PoE switches.

"This means we can easily replicate our environment," Fear said.

The company bought 10 G.729 licences, but it is not using it as calls are not being placed over the Internet. External calls are serviced with Optus over the PSTN.

Asterisk also delivers voice messages to e-mail and redirects support calls to the OTRS helpdesk application.

"With the old PABX we were under maintenance and at the beck and call of Samsung, now we have absolute control over the same thing," Fear said.

Digital Armour CEO Maria Padisetti said FremantleMedia is a perfect example of how any business, big or small, can benefit from open source technology.

"FremantleMedia is a highly efficiency-driven business and if it can use Asterisk to its advantage with a proven time record of system performance, maybe it's time more companies evaluate this alternative for their businesses as well," Padisetti said.

Now playing: DVD movies, Windows audio files on Ubuntu Linux

Now playing: DVD movies, Windows audio files on Ubuntu Linux

Users can now find the audio codecs, media player app to watch DVDs on Ubuntu machines

Todd R. Weiss 16/09/2008 08:21:00

Life just got easier for users of the downloadable or boxed retail versions of the Ubuntu Linux 8.04 operating system who want easy and cheap ways of adding DVD playback and improved audio capabilities to their machines.

Inexpensive add-on applications are now available for purchase in the Ubuntu online store that will provide audio codecs and a DVD player to expand the multimedia capabilities of the 4-year-old Linux operating system.

Previously, users of the freely downloaded or boxed versions of the Ubuntu Linux 8.04 could run into compatibility troubles while trying to play DVD movies or some types of audio tracks on their computers.

That was because many DVD player applications and audio codec files are proprietary, fee-based and owned by the vendors that created them, making them impossible to include for free in Ubuntu products.

Canonical, the commercial sponsor of Ubuntu Linux, said it has reached deals with two software vendors, Cyberlink and Fluendo, to sell their DVD player and audio codec applications directly to consumers through the online store. The products are already installed under previous licensing agreements for many laptop and desktop computers that are sold pre-loaded with Ubuntu Linux from hardware vendors, according to Ubuntu.

"It is important to us that no matter how you choose to access Ubuntu, pre-installed or as a free download, that you can have a similarly rich experience," wrote Gerry Carr, Canonical's marketing manager, in a blog entry. "The vast majority of our current users will have installed Ubuntu themselves. These users should also be allowed legal DVD and media playback and so we have built a way of letting them do this."

Carr said in an interview that some open-source projects that have tried to tackle the missing codec and DVD player issues, but that such reuse of the codecs is not necessarily legal.

"They've found a technical workaround, but it hasn't been legally verified," he said. "This is a way to use your Ubuntu Linux distro and legally playback your music and DVDs. At some point, somebody's got to pay these codec providers" to use their products.

The complications of trying to find, install and maintain the proper audio codecs for Linux operating systems like Ubuntu has long been one of the main consumer complaints about Linux operating systems. In many cases, it can be discouraging to deal with the not-so-easy-to-configure audio capabilities, especially when compared to Microsoft's Windows and Apple's Macintosh computer operating systems.

The Cyberlink PowerDVD software sells for US$49.95 in the Ubuntu store and allows users to play commercial DVDs on the latest Version 8.04 of Ubuntu Linux. OpenGL driver support for graphics hardware is also required.

From Fluendo, two audio codec applications are available in the store. The basic Windows Media and MP3 Playback Pack provides plug-ins for the most common Windows Media formats, including Windows Media Audio Decoder (Windows Media 7, 8, 9, 10, Pro, Lossless and Speech), Windows Media Video Decoder (Windows Media 7, 8, 9 and VC1), Windows Media MMS Protocol Support, Windows Media ASF Demuxer and MP3 Audio Decoder. It retails in the store for around US$25.

Also available is the Fluendo Complete Playback Pack, which adds a wider assortment of needed codecs for more file compatibility. The Complete Playback Pack retails for US$39.95.

Ubuntu has been selling boxed versions of its Linux operating system in Best Buy stores since July.

The new Ubuntu store offerings will allow users to eliminate audio and movie compatibility problems on their computers with single-click installation procedures, Carr said. "This has been a problem for consumers in the past," he said. "With this, you can play anything... with no restrictions at all."

This scenario doesn't mean that Ubuntu is looking to find ways to make consumers pay to use Ubuntu, Carr added. "We're never going to make you pay for anything that is fundanmental to the operating system. "You do need this to play DVDs. You do need this to play certain types of audio. We are not diametrically opposed to anyone selling software" to add on for Ubuntu users. "We will be adding additional software to that store as we can. It's entirely optional. It's building that ecosystem."

Tips on saving paper (Taken from BNET)

Everyone could use less paper in their lives. It’s good for the environment, easier on your filing system, and just plain cheaper. Here are three ways you can cut down on the amount of printing you do and paper you consume:

• Get a duplexing printer The oldest trick in the book is printing on both sides of a sheet of paper, which effectively halves your overall output. But actually doing so is a hassle (which side goes up? which end goes in first?) unless you have a duplexing printer. Monochrome lasers like the Lexmark E250d ($199), Brother HL-5250DN ($249), and HP P2015d ($399) can output doubled-sided documents — something to consider the next time you’re shopping for a printer.
• Print to PDF Instead of printing and faxing (or mailing) a document, “print” a PDF and e-mail it instead. In the past we’ve explored many ways to turn documents into PDFs; check ‘em out if you’re not sure how to proceed. Then check out Unclutterer’s clever tip on another type of document you should always print to PDF.
• Sign documents electronically When a document needs your signature, that usually means printing it out, signing it, and then returning it to sender. To save paper, start by digitizing your signature, then adding it to your PDFs. Alternately, check out EchoSign, which takes the hassle out of signing documents digitally.

Any paper-saving tips of your own to share?

http://blogs.bnet.com/businesstips/?p=1425