OStatic

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.

Smartphone owners love their push email and easy syncing options. Let's face it, without those handy features, handheld mobile devices are little more than really clunky cell phones. Now Open-Xchange customers can use the newly released OXtender for Business Mobility to receive push email and sync their calendars and contacts right over the air on an iPhone, BlackBerry, myTouch and most other smartphones on the market today.

Open-Xchange is a popular alternative to Microsoft Exchange that also syncs and supports Macs and Apple Mobile devices. It's used to manage email, tasks, calendars, documents, contacts, and even social networking communication.

The phrase all-in-one always puts me on edge. Perhaps that shouldn't be the case any more -- there are ever increasing numbers of software and hardware products offered in group packages, and most, if not wonderful, deliver what's claimed on the box. But instead, the first association that comes are the old school printer, copier, and fax combinations. They generally did one task well (depending on the manufacturer) and the other features didn't quite live up to even lowered expectations. The manufacturer was a huge factor in which functions worked well. Even with apparently sound off-label fax modems and drivers, printer manufacturers couldn't quite make it all work together. They deal mostly with printers, after all.

Open-Xchange's collaboration with Rack-Soft brings an all-in-one solution that's an actual solution. The partnership combines Open-Xchange's open source groupware with Rack-Soft's telephony products.

Social networking is so hot right now that many companies have given up trying to block workers from using it and are instead embracing it as a way to keep employees connected. Smart businesses even encourage it as a way to foster collaboration among teams, something that's been addressed often here at OStatic. On top of that, many companies are using social media to interact with customers as part of a larger marketing strategy. In short, there's a whole lot of social networking going on these days.

One issue that's beginning to crop up, however, is a lack of sufficient ways to tie together all the email and contact information people collect as they swing from network to network. You might connect with your boss and his assistant on LinkedIn, your best customers on Facebook, and your development team in a Google Group. That's a lot of contact info to keep track of and searching through an assortment of lists to find the person you're trying to reach is a huge time-sink. If you're dealing with that particular headache on a regular basis, then you're going to love Open-Xchange's the newest version of its open source groupware.

Want to hear an odd little theory (or perhaps more of a personal hang up) of mine? I don't own a Mac, and have never owned a Mac -- and I can say without reservation that many Macs I've worked with have been great, robust little machines. I also have never owned any Apple device (iPod, iPhone, or even a Newton). There are a few reasons on that front, one being that I don't have a Mac, and historically I've seen that these devices just don't play as well on other platforms as they do on Macs.

Here's the rub: Macs are nice, contained sorts of bio-domes, technological terrariums of sorts. The hardware and software all work together by design (which makes computing pleasant when all goes to plan and frustrating when it doesn't). When you need (or want) to use an outside service, problems ranging from aesthetic annoyances to complete non-communication arise.

Open-Xchange is an open source groupware and email alternative to Microsoft's Exchange Server. Though Open-Xchange previously supported Mac systems to some degree, it wasn't truly a cohesive, native experience.

If you're running OS X and use Open-Xchange, syncing your calendar, email, tasks and appointments between desktop, server, and mobile device just got a lot more functional, and much easier.

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.

Open source collaboration software and support provider Open-Xchange announced today that it would offer its webmail module free of charge to qualifying partners. The Webmail4Free promotion is open to companies in the telecommunication industry (web hosting providers and ISPs) as well as non-profit and educational institutions (universities, government agencies, and other organizations granted non-profit status). Additional qualifications and terms depend on the number of accounts required by the interested organization.

While choosing software simply because it's low-cost (or no cost) isn't recommended, and the promotion is (naturally) designed to be a mutually beneficial arrangement, companies and non-profits interested in deploying open source mail, groupware and information management solutions might want to take a closer look at Open-Xchange's offer.

Every sector of the tech industry, be it hardware or software oriented, offering open or closed source solutions, is feeling the economic pinch. Open-Xchange continues to weather the storm with its software as a service (SaaS) open source Exchange server alternative, announcing today it has added four new collaboration partners.

There is no magic formula for success in any business or economy, but Open-Xchange saw its SaaS product, the Open-Xchange Hosting Edition, hit the eight million users mark this year. Though many of Open-Xchange's partners are web hosts and ISPs, there is a real appeal to the SaaS model for businesses with few IT resources who are interested in adopting a groupware solution that's open and easily managed.

With the economy as volatile as it has been, there has been a good deal of speculation (both positive and downright pessimistic) about how open source companies will negotiate the ups and downs to come.

Today, Open-Xchange must be feeling quite optimistic, as it announced it's just closed a round of venture funding totaling $9 million and has four times the number of paid mailboxes now than it did last year. The company is focusing on a decidedly rosy looking future.

Fedora 9, the community-driven Linux distribution from Red Hat is out. Bruce Byfield has some interesting thoughts on it.....

Openbravo, developer of web-based open source Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Point-of-Sale (PoS) solutions has received $12 million of second round funding.....

Ingres OpenROAD, the companyﾒs platform for rapid application development, is now open source.....

InformationWeek has an interesting interview with Microsoft's open source chief Sam Ramji.....

Open-Xchange and Parallels are integrating Open-Xchange open source e-mail and collaboration software with Parallels.....