Open Source Software (OSS) also makes sense in the mid market - Open Source Software Up the Stack

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November 23, 2007
Open Source Software (OSS) also makes sense in the mid market

Groundwork Open Source is all over the news this month but when I look for a trend line in the press releases it comes back to their strategy of offerring large-enterprise functionality with small/medium enterprise (SME) terms and conditions. That should be an appealing value proposition. GroundWork is one of the few open source software (OSS) providers I have talked to that has an SME and channel-partner (as opposed to technology partner) approach to the market.

For example, GroundWork has recently hooked up with Nagios Enterprises to form a joint partnership focused around IT monitoring and management OSS. Nagios does the monitoring; Groundwork the management. According to Nagios creator and lead developer Ethan Galstad: “Over the past 18 months, GroundWork has done some great things with Nagios (through an OSS community effort) in developing a comprehensive IT management solution, and Nagios Enterprises can now extend the joint value further with the new formalized working relationship.”

GroundWork also announced this month the general availability of GroundWork monitoring solution for Ubuntu and other Linux distributions based on the Debian installation system. Ubuntu is the widely used version of Linux that is freely downloadable from the Internet and available on Dell Inspiron PCs in European countries including France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. (Sorry but I tend to spend too much time talking about Red Hat Enterprise Linux but there are other options out there.)

Both Nagios and Ubuntu are great solutions for midsize companies but such companies tend not to have the IT management staff to take advantage of them; GroundWork helps close that loop. Recently Ranga Rangachari, CEO of GroundWork Open Source, told me about the channel strategy that gets such large enterprise functionality to SMEs: “Partnering the way we are doing it allows each party to focus on their core competencies.” Groundwork has signed with leading HP systems integrators, Fujitsu in Japan (even though it has its own systems management offering); and Unisys. Groundwork is an integral part of Unisys 0asis;

Ranga targets mid market enterprises up to $2 billion but mostly companies with less than $200 million. He's as agnostic about OSS as I am; many of the companies targeted are Microsoft-centric shops. Groundwork supports open choice and is not just about monitoring and managing OSS stacks. Of course in addition to Windows, Groundwork runs on Linux and it also has a VMware appliance.