Technology companies negotiate a particularly messy obstacle course from the moment of conception -- jumping hurdles associated with venture capital, fending off and holding their own with fierce (and worthy) competitors, constantly changing and innovating products and services to meet the demands of the customer base. Open source companies have an additional complicating factor -- the business model is mysterious to many potential customers, and competitors (fierce, worthy, or otherwise) are often 800 pound gorillas with names and logos recognizable to CTO, CIO and Luddite alike.

Perhaps the silver lining for open source companies forging onward for larger market share is that they realized early on that adaptability is the norm, that weak points can become strengths if they're recognized and effectively addressed as soon as possible -- and that if a single open source company is unable to wrestle a significant percentage of the marketshare from an 800 pound gorilla, two or three 400 pound free software-touting orangutans can make a real impression.

Maybe my take on Open-Xchange's partnership with SugarCRM is more "Animal Planet" inspired than that of The VAR Guy, but it's very much in agreement. Open-Xchange has made its open source Exchange Server alternative -- and SugarCRM's open source customer relationship software -- infinitely more useful and appealing by facilitating data sharing between social networks, SugarCRM applications and Open-Xchange address books.

You know those little windows that pop up on some Web sites that allow you to connect instantly with a live customer service representative? Typically you find that type of service on Web sites built for big companies, but non-profit organizations can also benefit from the personal touch with patrons and potential donors. Unfortunately, the cost of help desk and live chat software can be prohibitive.

Live chat and CRM software vendor Kayako wants to help charitable foundations and open source software projects provide better customer service to users, so the company has announced it's offering free and unlimited licenses for all help desk software and add-ons to charities and teams developing open source software.

We've reported before on how the gloomy economic environment is increasing enterprise adoption of open source software, and we're not the only ones. As we reported here, when respondents to North Bridge Partners' Future of Open Source Survey were asked if the economic downturn is having a good or bad effect on open source, a whopping 96 percent of survey respondents answered "good." That was up from 81 percent in last year's survey. Notably, though, many of those same survey respondents felt that lack of awareness of open source alternatives to proprietary software is a significant obstruction to open source adoption in enterprises.

I've thought of all of these things as I've been sifting through Datamation's exhaustive "101 Open Source Apps for Enterprises" collection. It contains lots of surprises, and applications that many companies should look into.