[Sussex] The Indie recommends Linux!

[Mark Harrison]

The impression I have is that high-end CRM is all going web-based.

As such, the client platform is pretty much irrelevant. Frankly, if I were
building another call centre, I'd be very tempted to roll out locked-down X
desktops on linux with web browsers and be done with it. In terms of server
platforms, the three tier world is changing platforms, but increasingly
web-tier is moving out to large arrays of load-balanced Linux. The database
tiers still tend to sit on Sun / IBM type kit, but I can see that Linux in
combination with a suitable Open SQL database should be poised for inroads.
The thing perceived as the weakness has always been database resilience and
clustering, but Open solutions are coming. Application-tier stuff is still
the heartland of properietary.

As for the SME end. Most of my SME friends still use things like
spreadsheets and (aargh) Access databases. However, even there, I'm
beginning to see quite small firms move to webbased. Not sophisticated, but
the kind of apps that are typically written in PHP.

And the other option - Lotus Notes/Domino. Well, Domino server will run on
Linux now, and apparantly does it well. It's not clear to me whether the
Notes client has any relevance for desktops, but for laptops, it's still
king of the hill. Still a Windows / Mac application only. I have to admit, I
find it harder and harder to believe that the Notes/Domino product line will
continue for much beyond another 2-3 major versions. It's GOT to end up
wrapped into WebSphere as a set of application layer services at some point.
(This prediction will doubtless come back to haunt me in a few years time.)

Regards,

Mark

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Iain Stevenson" <iain at iainstevenson.com>
To: "LUG email list for the Sussex Counties" <sussex at mailman.lug.org.uk>
Sent: Thursday, January 01, 2004 11:32 AM
Subject: Re: [Sussex] The Indie recommends Linux!

That's the key question and one that I think others on the list are better
placed to answer than I.  However:

- Macs are still weaker in systems for accounting and practice management -
  maybe CRM too, I don't know