Midmarket Getting Big On Open Source

When you're talking Linux, recommending the ideal solution for the midmarket customer remains something of a moving target. As the open-source operating system grows in popularity by leaps and bounds, ISVs are rushing to port over their applications to take advantage of rising end-user interest. For VARs, the upshot is a healthy universe of software to pick from, as well as a customer base that's increasingly willing to dip its toes into the Linux waters.

That's the assessment of Frank Basanta, director of technology at Systems Solutions, a New York-based Linux integrator. He sees customer uptake across a broad range of systems software and applications, from file-and-print servers, to databases and CRM applications.

"There's a lot of critical database work," Basanta says. "People are running MySQL as well as Postgres [the colloquial name for the PostgreSQL open-source database]. And we're doing a lot with DB2 and DB2 Express." Oracle's database is also in the mix, he reports.

On the operating-systems front, mid-market customers are hewing to the two most popular mainstream Linux distributions--Red Hat and Novell/SuSE. Web-server software is led by Apache and IBM's WebSphere Application Server.

Beneath the radar screen, CRM is emerging as a big driver of interest among midmarket companies interested in contemplating the move to open source. AccPac CRM and SugarCRM are two packages that are currently garnering interest among customers of systems solutions, according to Basanta.

However, a conundrum for VARs gearing up to serve this midmarket is that, currently, getting such customers up and running on full suites of open-source software remains very much a mix-and-match operation, with resellers having to pull together best-of-breed setups from a variety of ISVs and suppliers. "Every customer has a different flavor, depending on what their needs or budgets are; that's what's driving the market," Basanta explains.

While midmarket customers will continue to demand installations highly targeted to their needs, the ability for VARs to select the right software should get easier as ISVs port more apps to Linux. "The large companies like IBM and Oracle have already made their investments and proved the stability of Linux is there," Basanta says. "The ISVs now realize that there is a real market out there, and that they can bring products to market that will sell well. So, we'll see a lot of applications and services being released."

However, VARs new to open source should be careful not to get overfocused on Linux. That's because potential mid-market customers who adopt Linux aren't likely to jettison Windows entirely. Rather, such customers will be trying to integrate Linux within their current environments. In the midmarket, Basanta says, "basically what you're looking at is heterogeneous environments, where both Linux and Windows are working together, as is the case in most large Fortune 500 companies."

Accordingly, Basanta advises VARs and integrators to understand Windows. "Remember that an SMB may have invested in a key piece of Windows software, and they don't want to get handcuffed in the move to Linux," he explains.

Bill Weinberg, architecture specialist at the Open Source Development Labs, a Linux consortium based in Beaverton, Ore., concurs with Basanta that the midmarket is a key customer-prospecting ground in the Linux arena. "There is a growing ecosystem of ISVs and integrators who today help midmarket customers by building upward from Linux and LAMP toward complete application workloads," Weinberg says. "These solutions leverage a mix of open and proprietary components. Examples include Oracle and its partners leveraging Oracle's Linux meta-platform, JBoss' enterprise middleware and application server, and IBM with WebSphere. There are also new open-source-software applications offerings from companies like SugarCRM, and VoIP-infrastructure, and call-center solutions from companies like Avaya."

Which companies are ripe to target for open-source sales pitches? "Midmarket companies with successful data-center deployments of open-source software are the best candidates for desktop Linux rollouts since they benefit from preexisting IT team and help-desk investments," Weinberg says.

Another factor in selling to the mid-market is to keep in mind the paucity of on-site support personnel, particularly as compared to Fortune 500 users. Although that's certainly a limitation for midmarket customers, it could be a plus for VARs because it translates into an opportunity to sell ongoing support services.

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