Open-Xchange Finds Free Webmail Promotion Boosting Its Bottom Line
by Kristin Shoemaker - Apr. 22, 2009Comments (0)- Related Blog Posts
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Maybe it's not a completely counterintuitive concept that giving away a service can yield new business relationships and profits, but undoubtedly, actually doing so is still a leap of faith. It was a chance that Open-Xchange felt was worth taking when it announced it would be giving away its webmail module to qualifying telecom, non-profit, and educational organizations. Almost three months later, Open-Xchange is seeing that giving a little bit can bring good returns.
Open-Xchange's ongoing Webmail4Free promotion offers a free (in speech and cost) webmail module in exchange for marketing the company's open source groupware and mobility modules to the qualifying organization's users and signing a support agreement. The agreement terms vary depending on the organization's size and scope.
It's working out for Open-Xchange, which is reporting a rosier Q1 than expected, and has seen a number of new partnerships and customers thanks to the promotion.
The most recent addition to Open-Xchange's clientele is Versatel, Germany's third largest telecommunications provider. Versatel is currently offering webmail services courtesy of the Open-Xchange Webmail4Free promotion, and it plans to replace its current webmail front-end with Open-Xchange's AJAX-powered interface as well as extend groupware and collaboration tools to its subscribers.
It is possible to make money with open source software -- and Open-Xchange certainly isn't the only company proving that point. Risks need to be taken, and management, financial, and product approaches need to be considered thoroughly in unconventional ways, perhaps -- but by rights, that ought to be a key ingredient in any business model.
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