The open source software represented by Linux and the exclusive software represented by Microsoft Software for nearly two years, many disputes, the first reason for choosing Linux software is "free".
However, the problem is not as simple as the problem. For any IT investment, the initial purchase fees for software account for only a small part of the total cost of ownership, TCO. TCO includes not only the first procurement and execution cost, but also a lot of cost factors, such as fault repair, product support, etc., all other costs that need to spend within the entire time period of this product.
Total Cost of Aquirement, TCA includes both hardware, software costs and costs performed on new systems, including the cost of IT department staff and the cost of business termination, because usually in deploying new technologies It is necessary to terminate the current business. The first procurement and execution cost is very easy to quantify. After a few days, you can calculate this number.
The price is the embodiment of the value, the price problem is actually closely linked to the three factors.
First, cost.
If a user who is evaluating open source software is a question: "Are you willing to pay, or use free?" - Usually the answer is the latter. In fact, in fact, the business model of open source software is increasingly managing as a "service mode", that is, after the user purchases open source software in a very low price, it must pay indirectly. Additional fees, such as installation and commissioning, education and training, product upgrades, even intellectual property risk factors, etc., these additional overhead should also be calculated as among TCOs. One of the simplest examples, the service excellent washing machine is always more expensive than no service, because of time, uncertain repairs and services also need to pay costs.
A survey released in the previous IDC indicates that Windows's TCO is even lower than Linux / UNIX / MainFrame, and its learning and maintenance skills are easy to use, which is easy to push to the market faster. According to IDC data, Windows In addition to Web Serving, the cost of other aspects is lower than Linux, and its TCO is 11-20% lower than Linux. This example is not difficult to understand, such as in China, even in the most remote town, you may find people who use Windows, which makes maintenance and support are very convenient.
Second, value.
Value is not only the cost or cost of the initial purchase, but the "value" of IT is to use IT to make the business more effective. The world's second big rich Wallen Baffert is the CEO of the US Berkshire Hathaway Investment Company. He believes that the price is the cost you pay, and the value is the benefits you have obtained from the cost. The value of IT reflects the relationship between cost, risk, business unit's income and IT department income.
A company not only considers costs when assessing value, but also considers the return that it can get, and the risk that IT may bring.
Third, risk.
For telecommunications, financial and other companies, TCO may not be the primary consideration, and IT procurement should consider the top priority is "risk", one of the important guarantees of reducing risks is the security and stability of the system. Suppose the telecommunications company's billing system is downtime, or the bank user account management system is attacked by hacker, which will be huge for the loss to the business department. The more stable, safe products, the superiority is also reflected in the price, and few people refuse to adopt because the UNIX platform is expensive.
In addition, when analyzing "Linux free", we encountered a few questions: 1. Is commercial interests to open the economic power of the development of the source code product?
2, what is the cultural factor in Linux?
3. The linux trend is started in the community, then it is a kind of social spontaneous phenomenon? With regard to these issues, we will continue to pay attention.
Source: http://www.zdnet.com.cn/
