Opening minds to open software?

• "Even if companies buy pre-prepared software, they still need to spend approximately 30% of resources to customize is so it suits their needs." (Professor G.)
• Buying software is usually just around 25% of all software related costs.
• Open software is a free basis for further development. Surf through sourceforge to see how things are moving along. ERP, CRM, BI...they have it all. And although it is still quite primitive we have to realize:
• That bigger firms have a logical interest to invest into open platforms (google, IBM...have very real interests in this field), which will probably speed things up.
• Majority of firms that will want remain competitive are going to keep constantly investing into new IT.
• It is cheaper to build form a basic free platform and add things you need instead of buying a complex platform (how much of you cell phone capabilities are you capable of using) and then use only about 10% of what it can do...and pay for it in licenses.
• The future for software business is not so much in creating new software, but more in adapting it to specific needs. - Eben Moglen

1. Become the middleman of sourceforge projects (which started marketing customization services), adding value by identifying special (local) needs and organizing their fulfillment by:
2. Establishing a core team of talented programmers and sys analysists + get direct online help,
3. Creating some great marketing strategies and methods, that will show clear benefits of not having to buy software foundations (70%) + buy yearly licenses.
4. Because bigger=safer principle usually applies to software market (a few big players control almost all of the "for firms" software market), you have to play a role of decreasing the risk of being left alone. In other words your customers must feel safer with you than with a private programmer, because you company is less likely to get killed in a car crash. Furthermore you have to package sys analysis, programming, maintenance... into one complex offer they can't refuse + privateers can't compete with.
5. When big enough, sell your services to the governments.