Blogging:
WordPress, Roller
Security: ZoneAlarm, AVG Anti-Virus
free edition, Comodo Firewall, Windows Defender, SpyBot Search, SpamAssassin,
Snort
Customer Relationship Management:
SugarCRM
Web browser: Pegasus Mail
PDF Software: Pdf995 Suite, Foxit
Reader
Backup: Mozy
Utilities: FileZilla, Google
Desktop, WinMerge
To make sure the software has a good
reputation, do your homework, said Ian Strain-Seymour, director of search
marketing services at Apogee Search, a search engine marketing vendor in
Austin, Tex. , that uses a lot of free and cheap software.
“If it’s worthwhile, the website
will have great reviews and a list of awards they have one,” he said. “And
spend some time with a search engine to look for offhand reviews and comments,
because usually, the most successful tools have the most passionate user
groups. Getting a combination of official and blogosphere endorsements is a big
deal.”
Even with the reliability tools like this can provide, it’s not a
good idea to use a free tool for applications that are mission-critical or
strategic to a business. Instead, they are better for basic functions and
applications, said Kathleen Reidy, senior analyst with New York-based 451
Group.
“Anything that is more central to an organization's primary line
of business is less likely to be well served by a free or cheap tool,” she
said. “Think about custom vertical applications like education software or
project management tools for a construction company. Things like that would be
harder to serve with a commoditized free or low-cost tool.”
Using free or even cheap tools also can save a company some very
real money, because product and licensing fees are non-existent. Take the case
of Apogee Search: The company’s reliance on free and low-cost tools, including
MySQL, PHP, TimeBridge, OpenOffice, WordPress and Google Apps, saves the
company about $20,000 per month, Strain-Seymour estimates.
“Microsoft Office license alone are $200 to $400 per seat, which
adds up to thousands per year. MySQL replaces what would have been five to 10
Oracle databases—another $5,000 to $10,000 annually. And by using PHP for
development instead of Microsoft.net or the IBM WebSphere tools, that’s another
$5,000 to $10,000 a year. And by not implementing a Microsoft Exchange system,
we save another several thousand dollars monthly, plus about 25 percent of our
system administrator’s time,” he said.
