It is true that the best products are not always the most widely adopted. However, to blame those in charge of IT is a little short sighted and naive. The choices that IT has to make are often more than just technical. Sometimes the best 'technical' solution does'nt make the most business sense.
The purchase cost of any software is just one part of the total cost involved. The costs incurred during the entire product lifecycle are all important. These 'post-purchase' costs are often several times more than the purchase cost. That means the products that are easier to deploy and maintain often mitigate some or all of the purchase costs as opposed to free solutions.
What is really needed to 'dethrone' Microsoft are products that are just as mind-numblingly easy to setup and deploy for businesses. Most don't have the skills or time it takes to configure many open source products. Good documentation and user community support are critical for any product to be accepted by users.
As for the second point, it does'nt matter what product is deployed, if it does'nt go as planned management should have an issue with it.
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It is true that the best products are not always the most widely adopted. However, to blame those in charge of IT is a little short sighted and naive. The choices that IT has to make are often more than just technical. Sometimes the best 'technical' solution does'nt make the most business sense.
The purchase cost of any software is just one part of the total cost involved. The costs incurred during the entire product lifecycle are all important. These 'post-purchase' costs are often several times more than the purchase cost. That means the products that are easier to deploy and maintain often mitigate some or all of the purchase costs as opposed to free solutions.
What is really needed to 'dethrone' Microsoft are products that are just as mind-numblingly easy to setup and deploy for businesses. Most don't have the skills or time it takes to configure many open source products. Good documentation and user community support are critical for any product to be accepted by users.
As for the second point, it does'nt matter what product is deployed, if it does'nt go as planned management should have an issue with it.