I started a small manufacturing company in 2004. I used some open source software, and set it up myself with the help of Mr. Google. I can cut and paste, but I am no programmer.
Then things got busy, and I couldn't keep everything patched, and we had a hell of a time with spam, and so I hired an inhouse self-taught IT guy that was not very good. It wasn't working and after a year, he went somewhere else (we are still friends) and we went to Google Apps for the spam control and the Docs, Sheets, and Sites.
I know there are many many many free and O/S choices out there. Maybe something better for us than Google Apps. I do not have the time to evaluate hardly anything. If some person comes to me and has a solution, and can explain all the other choices available from free or O/S all the way to Oracle, that exist for me on the market, then I may buy his product or service. If the first thing they sell me works, then I will look at the next thing with eagerness.
As a business owner, I have 1000 headaches and having 2 fewer is great. Free software is not free maintenance. Your o/s software getting hacked (because you didn't know there was a patch) really sucks and can screw up your 4 day long weekend. Or worse. When your small site that brings in $1000 a day in sales and feeds your family tanks, the $25 per month you saved using open source software looks really insignificant, and you feel really stupid.
Then things got busy, and I couldn't keep everything patched, and we had a hell of a time with spam, and so I hired an inhouse self-taught IT guy that was not very good. It wasn't working and after a year, he went somewhere else (we are still friends) and we went to Google Apps for the spam control and the Docs, Sheets, and Sites.
I know there are many many many free and O/S choices out there. Maybe something better for us than Google Apps. I do not have the time to evaluate hardly anything. If some person comes to me and has a solution, and can explain all the other choices available from free or O/S all the way to Oracle, that exist for me on the market, then I may buy his product or service. If the first thing they sell me works, then I will look at the next thing with eagerness.
As a business owner, I have 1000 headaches and having 2 fewer is great. Free software is not free maintenance. Your o/s software getting hacked (because you didn't know there was a patch) really sucks and can screw up your 4 day long weekend. Or worse. When your small site that brings in $1000 a day in sales and feeds your family tanks, the $25 per month you saved using open source software looks really insignificant, and you feel really stupid.