From SME Guide

FOSS4SME - Free/Libre Open Source Software guide for SMEs

IOSN/InWEnt Edition for Southeast Asia

FLOSS (Free/Libre open source software) is one of the most important trends in information technology since the advent of the personal computer and commodity software. Despite documented successes however, FLOSS dissemination and awareness, especially among small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs) and business intermediaries around the world, are still limited. This is particularly relevant for emerging regions such as Southeast Asia.

Therefore, "it@foss - Promoting Free and Open Source Software in Southeast Asia", a joint initiative of the International Open Source Network ASEAN+3 and InWEnt Capacity Building International of Germany, has built on related EU funded initiatives ("FLOSSMETRICS" and "Open TTT") to develop a Southeast Asian edition of the "Free/Libre Open Source Software guide for SMEs" under the label of FOSS4SME.

We are very pleased to present FOSS4SME as a set of guidelines and suggestions for the adoption of open source software within SMEs. Founded on open source software, this catalog aims to support SMEs - from the initial selection, adoption , and creation of suitable FLOSS business models.

This guide is split into an introduction to FLOSS and a catalog of open source applications.

1) The introduction to FLOSS provides companies and business intermediaries with information on FLOSS, best practices, business models as well as an assessment score table, which allows an SME to select suitable FLOSS applications.

2) The software catalog lists FLOSS solutions focusing on the needs of SMEs. The applications in the catalogue range from enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), groupware, document workflow management, content management systems (CMS), VoIP, graphics, computer-aided design (/CAD), geographic information systems (GIS), productivity applications, as well as those that are useful in different domains such as engineering, manufacturing, eLearning and healthcare. For a full table of content, see online version of the toolkit at http://fosstoolkit.iosnasean.net/

We hope that the present guide can serve as a support instrument to SMEs in the Southeast Asian region and beyond. In this context, we sincerely thank the team of authors and trainers, which has been active in shaping and updating the modules of the guide, particularly Mr Carlo Daffara from Conecta, as well as the pool of trainers from Southeast Asia emanating from a workshop on the FOSS Toolkit for SMEs in November 2008 at Mango Farm, Philippines. You can contact the pool of trainers for further information or consultancy and training assignment at fosstoolkit@iosnasean.net.

Free/Libre Open Source Software: a guide for SMEs SME Guide Introduction 1. What's Free/Libre/Open Source Software? 2. Ten myths about free/libre open source software 3. Basic FLOSS adoption models 4. Finding and selecting software 5. Best practices for FLOSS adoption 6. FLOSS-based business models Bibliography Appendix 1: estimating the number of active FLOSS projects Appendix 2: QSOS assessment score tables Appendix 3: USB-based SME toolkits Search by Country Cambodia Indonesia Laos Philippines Vietnam

Software catalog (by category) Software Catalog Introduction Security Data protection and recovery Virtualization and remote access Desktop, device, network and server management Identity, access management Database and DB management Software Development ERP CRM Groupware VoIP, conferencing and messaging Document management Vertical business applications Content management systems Elearning applications Graphics Video and CAD Desktop applications Engineering and manufacturing Health Care

Consult the User's Guide for information on using the wiki software.