[Ubuntu-be] Fwd: SOCIALWARE AND OPEN SOURCE

Serge van Ginderachter serge at vanginderachter.be
Wed Jul 11 17:42:19 BST 2007


Hi All,

I received more feedback from Socialware, read further on for the
forwarded mail. 

I'm pleased to notice that they took the time to dive into the list
archives and to respond to several issues who were thrown on the list
only.

I will answer them as being appointed to represent ubuntu-be, as Mark
VDB already confirmed.



Serge


-------- Forwarded Message --------
> From: Bernard Martin <bernard.martin at socialware.be>
> To: 'Serge van Ginderachter, Ginsys' <svg at ginsys.be>
> Cc: francois at cauwe.org
> Subject: SOCIALWARE AND OPEN SOURCE
> Date: Wed, 11 Jul 2007 10:37:47 +0200
> 
> Dear Mr van Ginderachter,
> 
>  
> 
> I have read quite interesting forum exchanges about our activities on
> Ubuntu-be. 
> 
>  
> 
> As mentioned in my prior mail I am definitely open to exploring
> cooperation possibilities with Ubuntu-be. However before going further
> will you please share this mail with your colleagues of Ubuntu-be and
> confirm that you are the contact person representing your
> organization. 
> 
>  
> 
> Here are some clarification statements about SOCALware’s mission:
> 
>  
> 
> First of all let me assure you that SOCIALware was not created by
> Microsoft and that we are not sponsored by Microsoft or by CISCO in
> any manner. 
> 
>  
> 
> How did it start? Working as a volunteer and helping several NPOs, I
> measured the extent of the IT issues they were facing and looked for a
> structural solution that could rapidly help the NPOs obtaining an
> appropriate and efficient operational environment. I did not look for
> THE solution, but to A solution, most particularly taking into account
> the speed of deployment of any solution as well as the final
> objective.
> 
>  
> 
> The primary short term issue to be addressed was the affordability of
> professional IT software and hardware while preserving continuity of
> existing environments. That is why the SOCIALware project was started.
> The initial beneficiary target was the Development NGOs for which we
> received the support of the federations and of the DGCD. After two
> years of operations, the DGCD considers this project to have one of
> the best overall returns (social value net of any grant and charge). 
> 
>  
> 
> On the donor side, we negotiated with the suppliers whose products
> were most demanded. Microsoft and CISCO responded positively. Be
> assured that quite some time and efforts were needed to convince these
> major suppliers of the project value proposition. Contracts with new
> donors are currently well under way.
> 
>  
> 
> Since July 2006, the project has been extended to Non Profit Sector
> (NPOs with a clear social aim).  In this wider context we received the
> support of the King Baudouin Foundation. You will easily understand
> that our mission, scope and priorities have been thoroughly discussed
> with the Foundation. Some of you intend to contact the Foundation -
> feel free to do so if you believe it appropriate.
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks to the project, the Belgian NPO community saved more than 2
> millions EUR so far, an encouragement for us and to our supporters.
> Moreover, as this project was a European premiere, it is now
> replicated in other countries based on local partnerships.
> 
>  
> 
> Vis-à-vis the Open Source products, our position has been that these
> solutions were quite well known and had a wide web coverage already,
> so we choose not devoting our scarce resources, mostly volunteers, to
> address already solved problems and rather concentrated our efforts on
> what was unresolved so far, i.e. getting donated products from vendors
> on behalf of the NGO community.
> 
>  
> 
> We hardly saw what added value we might have in distributing Open
> Source products at this stage, but on this point we certainly would
> appreciate your views. This is a key point for us, as we cannot simply
> advertise a product without a significant added value in the process;
> else we would have to publish a list of any available product to treat
> them in an even way.
> 
>  
> 
> We also declined to advertise several product offerings based on open
> source, but with proprietary layers which are bundled with support
> contracts: taken as a whole these offers were far from open because
> they actually made the buyer captive of a single supplier for any
> maintenance and support.
> 
>  
> 
> However we have clearly nothing against Open Source products and we
> use some of them for our own operations. And given the noise on the
> line we may have a position statement about Open Source products on
> our web site in the future.
> 
>  
> 
> But in any case, the choice of the solution (Open Source or not,
> Supplier X or Y) rests and should rest with the NPO itself, it is not
> our mission to influence this choice in any way – we only eliminate
> some financial constraints out of such a selection process so that the
> NPO decision can be based on sheer technical, benefits, or strategic
> considerations from their own perspective.
> 
>  
> 
> I hope that this brief update sheds some light on our mission and code
> of conduct.
> 
>  
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Bernard Martin
> 
> President
> 
> www.socialware.be 
> 
> 






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