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June 12, 2009

Dell and the SMB open source paradox

Forrester study finds small businesses are apprehensive about open source. Can Dell help change those perceptions?

By Savio Rodrigues
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It's interesting to note that Dell is planning to offer small and medium businesses (SMBs) preconfigured hardware and open source software bundles.  The bundles seem targeted at the Asia Pacific region.

This news comes days after a Forrester study found "only 9 percent of enterprises said they were 'very concerned' [about the security of open source] compared with 45 percent for the SMBs."

[ Follow other trends in open source with InfoWorld's Open Source topic center. ]

The Forrester study also found that "more than half of SMBs (57 percent) also expressed concern that open-source software would be complex and hard to adopt, but only 32 percent of enterprises expressed a similar sentiment. In addition, 68 percent of SMBs cited the availability of service and support for open-source software as a concern, compared with 47 percent of enterprises."

Based on the Forrester data, it seems strange that Dell would want to follow this strategy. There definitely seems to be an uphill battle convincing SMBs to adopt open source products. However, the Forrester data is from North American respondents, while the Dell SMB play seems to be starting in the Asia Pacific (AP) region. The potential difference in customer perceptions of open source in AP versus North America is likely why Dell is starting in AP. However, since Dell expects to roll out the bundles to North America, Dell must believe that its brand can overcome SMB's perceptions around open source.

It'll be interesting to see how successful Dell can be in this segment, and how successful Dell can be in changing SMB preceptions about the security, complexity, and availability of support and service around open source.

Follow me on Twitter at: SavioRodrigues

p.s.: I should state: "The postings on this site are my own and don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies, or opinions."

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2 of 4 comments
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zman58 15-Jun-09 6:49am
ooh, Yet another article trying to cast doubt on "open source". Exactly what do you mean by "open source". What kinds of questions were asked in the survey? Is this trying to point to Linux? -or are we writing about other open source? Apache? BSD? What about Microsoft open source? Or are we just casting everything into one big caldron and calling it "open source"? Here is my take... 57% of SMB decision makers know almost nothing about "open source". They don't understand what it is and how it could help their organizations. They don't understand how it could save them money AND time while increasing productivity and allowing them to do even more. They don't understand that it can be far more secure than the status quo. They don't understand the value of open source and how to leverage it to their advantage. Furthermore most of these 57% of the SMB IT decision makers have already chosen expensive proprietary (lock-in) solutions for their IT needs and must continue to find purpose in spending exhorbitant licence fees, spouting FUD--such as security concerns, to make the status quo look like the best approach. They don't understand the power of the "open source community" and either are too lazy or too overworked to look for a better approach. They need to get off their duffs, get down from their high horse, and free their minds. They need to find the best solutions and this includes serious consideration of open source--even if it means making them look slightly foolish in that they could be admitting their current positions are out-dated, far too costly, and ineffective. ...Then there is Forrester, who likes to sell information that business leaders want to use. The problem is that many business leaders want to use this information to satisfy the decisions they have already made. It's easy; Just find, and buy, the report that fits your position. Ignore the rest. :)
mjeffer 18-Jun-09 8:32pm
zman, I think you're getting the wrong idea. He's commenting on the fact that Dell seems to be going after a market that in general is unsure about open source software. I'm not sure what the survey was about or if it was sponsored, but it's not talking about quality, it's talking about what small businesses think about open source. I certainly can see small businesses being apprehensive since most small business owners are not necessarily tech savy and don't have the budget for IT staff. Does that mean open source is bad for them? Absolutely not, but it does mean that they don't know much about it and that more often than not they go for the name brand because they think it's better. While I agree that it seems strange for Dell to be going after this market with the current apprehension, even in the US it could be a success if and only if they are committed to it and market it right. Having a large vendor with support behind it will never hurt.

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