There’s some talk going around the channel partners and VARs in the SMB market that might have the open source people raising their eyebrows.
Microsoft has a couple products coming out that directly effect the SMB market and the channel provider VAR. One is a product called System Center Essentials [SCE]. What this product does is allow remote management and monitoring of Microsoft networks much like the monitoring and reporting tools in Windows Small Business server. Another product is Windows Home Server. A new small business server directed at the 1 to 10 computer SMB market.
These two products fall under what Microsoft is terming Managed Services. Something channel partners and VARs sell to SMB companies that can’t afford full time IT staff but want their networks managed. The channel partners and VARs offered managed services to SMBs is cost effective. The channel partner or VAR remotely manages the network, comes in once a month or is on call for emergencies. The SMB has a technical specialist, someone they know, that they can call on who knows their network. The SMB has their network is managed and it all costs less than having a full time IT person.
What has the SMB channel providers and VAR upset is that the distributors [the wholesalers that channel partners and VARs buy their software, licenses, hardware, from for their customers]are starting to see this as a huge untapped business base and with SCE they can offer SMBs managed services from hardware, software, licensing, and remote management. What the channel partners and VARs business is. Best Buy and Geek Squad are also gearing up to use SCE for SMBs.
So the non official talk in the SMB world is possibly not recommending to their customer base Microsoft products because Microsoft is basically taking away their business base and giving it to HP, Dell, Best Buy and Geek Squad, Ingram Micro, Tech Data, G&H , and Synex.
This could have a profound effect on Microsoft. If the SMB market segment, those with 1 to 5 servers are moved to Open Source by channel partners and VARs who actively sell to this business group, the open source community might see what they envisioned having happen. Open Source flowing down to the personal PC market. People use at home what they use at work. If enough SMBs start using Open Source, then those workers might start opting to buy open source for their personal home computer. Especially if they think they can get help with problems by the channel partners and VARs and not have to call the off shore help desks at Dell, HP, or Microsoft or resort to high priced Geek Squad.
