At first glance, Microsoft’s software portfolio — Windows, Office, Small Business Server and Exchange — still dominates the small business market. But Red Hat CEO Jim Whiteshurst says his company has found a back door into the small business market. Perhaps surprisingly, it doesn’t really involve desktop Linux.

Open-Xchange Inc., today announced full-featured collaboration software designed to make it easy for small- and medium-sized businesses to take advantage of the cost benefits of open source without requiring prior Linux know-how. The product, Open-Xchange Express Edition, provides organizations with an alternative to expensive proprietary collaboration software.

If you’re running a small business and you’re in the market for server, you might want to consider SME Server, a Linux distribution customised specifically for the small and medium sized business environment.

Many small business owners have never heard of open source software. That's unfortunate because in many ways small businesses are ideal environments for open source applications.

Medium businesses (100 to 999 employees) in Japan are showing latent potential to drive usage of open source software, particularly on the server database scene, according to a survey conducted by AMI-Partners.

Businesses of all sizes are more interested in open source software than ever, but smaller businesses may not have the legal staff or procurement departments to sort through what's useful and what's not. Happily, crafting a proper policy to acquire and deploy open source software is no great mystery, and something any business can do.

The Open Business Foundation (OBF) operates on two premises: that the open source development community makes good business sense, and that small businesses can be more successful if they band together with each other to share resources of all kinds.

"The Open Business Foundation (OBF) operates on two premises: that the open source development community makes good business sense, and that small businesses can be more successful if they band together with each other to share resources of all kinds."

Some small businesses and start-ups are standardizing on Ubuntu Server Edition because it’s a low-cost alternative to Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 and 2008. The VAR Guy wonders: Could a bigger trend be coming? Will hundreds — or thousands — of small businesses make the move to Ubuntu Server Edition?