Niedziela

Artykul z www.business2.com
Skąd czerpią pieniądze firmy sprzedające produkty open-source? Wszystkie firmy software'owe sprzedają nie programy ale licencje na ich użytkowanie (mają przy tym stopę zysku - profit margin - prawie 100%).
But what's the value of a license to a customer? A license doesn't deliver the code, provide the utilities to get a piece of software running, fix bugs, answer the phone when something inevitably goes wrong, or tweak the software to meet a special need. The value of software, in short, doesn't lie in the software alone. The value is in making sure the software does its job. Just as a traveler should look at the overall price of a vacation package instead of obsessing over the price of the plane ticket or hotel room, a smart tech buyer won't focus on how much the license costs and ignore the support contract or the maintenance agreement. He'll look at the total package and decide if it's worth it.


Open-source is not that different. If you want the software to work, you have to pay to ensure it will work. The open-source companies have refined the software model by selling subscriptions. They roll together support and maintenance and charge an annual fee, which is a healthy model, though not quite as wonderful as Microsoft's money-raking one.


Tellingly, even Microsoft is casting an envious eye at aspects of the open-source business model. The company has been taking halting steps toward a similar subscription scheme for its software sales. Under a software subscription, how much will you be paying for the license part of the package? You won't know or even care. It might as well be zero, because the value of software is in the results it delivers, not how you get your hands on it.


That may explain why Microsoft's subscription program, known as Software Assurance, is struggling. Software Assurance provides maintenance and support together with a software license. It lets you upgrade to Microsoft's next version of the software for a predictable sum. But it also contains an implicit threat: If you don't switch to Software Assurance now, who knows how much Microsoft will charge you when you decide to upgrade?


Chief information officers hate this kind of "assurance," since they're often perfectly happy running older versions of software that are proven and stable. Microsoft, on the other hand, rakes in the software-licensing fees only when customers upgrade. Software Assurance is Microsoft's attempt to get those same licensing fees but wrap them together with the service and support needed to keep systems running. That's why Redmond finds the open-source model so threatening: Open-source companies have no vested interest in getting more licensing fees and don't have to pad their service contracts with that extra cost. In the end, the main difference between open-source and proprietary software companies may be the size of the check you have to write