SMU MBA Program & SimpleTicket
We were contacted by students from SMU’s MBA program to help build a business or marketing plan for SimpleTicket. We are meeting this evening with the students and their advisor. Here are several Q&As about SimpleTicket Alex blogged about previously (we have also included several links that might be helpful for the MBA students:
Q. Why did Architel write SimpleTicket?
A. Architel wrote SimpleTicket because they had a very specific workflow and non of the cheap (under $10,000) solutions worked for the company. The expensive solutions (over $50,000) were so complicated and ‘heavy’ that we decided to build it ourselves.
Q. Why did Architel decide to release SimpleTicket as an open source project?
A. The more people who saw the project thought we should ’sell’ it. I was surprised that people would want our ’simple’ ticketing system. Our workflow is so narrow I figured it would not work for many types of companies. If we released the software for free, including the source code, anyone could edit/modify the code to match their own workflow. By using the GPL we could ensure that all versions/modifications/improvements would be shared with the entire community. Finally, the network effects potentially huge - imagine a network of developers working on your software (for free!).
Q. How will Architel make money?
A. First, we don’t need to make any money. The cost of development was far less than it would have cost us to purchase one of those heavy-weight packages. If we don’t make a dime we will be fine. But, surely you realize that open source projects can be very lucrative. How? 1. you can provide maintenance for a fee, 2. you can provide customization for a fee, or 3. you can provide application hosting for a fee. Revenue generated by the project can be reinvested in the project or simply distributed to the parent (Architel).
Making Money With Open Source (whitepaper) by Kai Hendry
How to Make Money Off Open Source, by Lisa Vaas
Conversation witha successful Linux services entrepreneur by Robin Miller
Open Source Case for Business by OSI
How Do You Make Money from Open Source Software? by Clark Lane
101 Ways to Make Money off Open Source
Making money with open source by Amy Kucharik
Money in the open source world by Alex
Open Source year in reivew by Alex