On 20 Mar 2008 at 20:33, Richard Daemon wrote: > On Thu, Mar 20, 2008 at 5:50 PM, Chris <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I been trying (rather unsuccessfully) to convince various clients > and > > employers to adopt OpenBSD. Most people, I find, are resistent to > > change and would not use anything they are not familiar with. > Others > > would say that if I leave the job, it would be hard to find people > who > > can use (or even heard of) OpenBSD and in some places Management > never > > heard of OpenBSD and have very little clue as to how good or bad it > is > > compared to Linux/ Solaris and Windows thus they will just knock > off > > the proposal in 2 seconds. > > > > Is there any way I could convince these people to make the move > to > > OpenBSD? Suggestions, tips and tricks along with real life > examples > > would be much appreciated. Thanks. > > > I'm in the same boat... Wondering the same things and looking for > ways > as well, especially with the clueless IT manager types that have > only > heard of Linux or Solaris at most. > > Now if only someone could write a book on how to sell "free", OSS > solutions like this (with a lot of focus on OpenBSD) I would be one > of > the first to pre-order it! > >
There is no "magic" to selling OSS or for that matter, any kind of solution. Only two things ever sell. The first, easiest, "default" sale is brand name -- can anyone provide a _technical_ reason for any company to buy the over-priced AND under-powered CISCO iron? (and the older folks will remember the saying "no-one ever got fired for buying IBM" which finally died in the eighties.) There is a silver lining here for the successful consultant (whether outside or in-house expert) -- you make the sale by BECOMING the brand name, i.e. once you are accepted as THE expert, ANY solution you propose will sail. The second sale is that of opportunity and was described earlier on this thread by Gerardo Santana -- in certain engagements there is a genuine interest in solving a genuine problem, and you are given the freedom to choose your own tools (or rope to hang yourself if you over- reach). If you are successful at picking and solving these engagements, you eventually become a recognized expert -- see previous paragraph. --------------------------------------------------------- System Administrator [EMAIL PROTECTED] Bitwise Internet Technologies, Inc. 22 Drydock Avenue tel: (617) 737-1837 Boston, MA 02210 fax: (617) 439-4941
