Let's play word association. I say "Web Hosting." I bet "fat margins" didn't
jump into your head. More likely, you thought of some of the "where are they
nows" of the bubble, like Exodus and PSINet. Let's do another round - I say
"New York City," and I'd wager that "cheap rent" wasn't the first thing you
thought of, either. So it may surprise you to learn that one hosting company
that's been around since 1993 and that's actually making money, Logicworks
(www.logicworks.net), just happens to be based in New York City.
What's their secret? Talk to CEO, Carter Burden, and he'll tell you that they
have low customer turnover because of their superb support, and that this
also allows them to earn a modest price premium over the competition. One
customer raves: "I have been a c... (more)
The open source software development model clearly represents a profound and
fundamental change from traditional, proprietary development models.
In the proprietary world, a software company invests massive dollars in
development, sales, and marketing. They recoup their investment in license
fees, which have strict provisions regarding redistribution of the product
(you can't), accessing ... (more)
If you do business around Microsoft products, it's obvious where you go for
answers on the benefits of their products - Microsoft. However, if you're
looking for this kind of information about Linux, where do you go? IBM, Red
Hat, Novell, Sun, or all of the above? I believe there's a need for a
collective resource for the Linux business case.
If you go to www.microsoft.com, and select Win... (more)
Here's a scenario. Among the systems administrators (SAs) in your company,
you're the exception, not the rule. You cut your teeth on Unix, you keep up
your Unix skills, and you still favor Unix in many respects.
But you're also a pragmatist, and probably a parent with mouths to feed, so
as Microsoft has become more and more prevalent on the server side of the
network, you have added to yo... (more)
Here's an understatement: security has been pretty front and center lately.
When was the last time the "S" word hasn't been somewhere on the cover of at
least one of the weekly IT magazines?
All this focus on security may have left some sys admins feeling a tad like
Greg Fokker in the movie "Meet the Parents." For those who haven't seen it,
here's the plot. Greg is in love with Pam, and h... (more)