Help -long post but PLEASE read!

[KernelPanic]

I am just about to start work on a project/assignment/coursework for my business studies. The basic idea is to creat an imaginary business, ie I have to make a financially viable business idea and do everything but actually start the business. This involes compiling a business plan, contacting banks and estate agents (real estate agents if you're a yank) and s**tloads of reserach and surveys etc behind what you propose.

This is where your help is needed.

My business idea is basically a Linux solutions company. This business would perform the following tasks:

Linux ready hardware supply.
Personal and commercial consultation (migration etc)
Software Supply.
Support to hardware customers.
Along with anything else I have time to write about.

Now what I need is links and resources related to this sort of thing. I need some numbers to work with and also anything that will give me some ideas. I am pretty sorted on the actual business side of things I just need links for the technical side. Really I ask for ANYTHING that could be remotely useful. This is a very large piece of coursework.

In some of the sections I think I will get quite technical because some off topic rambling actually helps your grades.

Also, for the wary, in asking for help I am NOT cheating the main point of this project is using research from ANY source to assess viability and make good plans. So help if you can  

I also plan to make a mock-up price list and website. How complete the website is depends on time, but it gets me extra brownie points.

[creedon]

quote:Originally posted by Tux:
I am just about to start work on a project/assignment/coursework for my business studies. The basic idea is to creat an imaginary business, ie I have to make a financially viable business idea and do everything but actually start the business. This involes compiling a business plan, contacting banks and estate agents (real estate agents if you're a yank) and s**tloads of reserach and surveys etc behind what you propose.

This is where your help is needed.

My business idea is basically a Linux solutions company. This business would perform the following tasks:

Linux ready hardware supply.
Personal and commercial consultation (migration etc)
Software Supply.
Support to hardware customers.
Along with anything else I have time to write about.

Now what I need is links and resources related to this sort of thing. I need some numbers to work with and also anything that will give me some ideas. I am pretty sorted on the actual business side of things I just need links for the technical side. Really I ask for ANYTHING that could be remotely useful. This is a very large piece of coursework.

In some of the sections I think I will get quite technical because some off topic rambling actually helps your grades.

Also, for the wary, in asking for help I am NOT cheating the main point of this project is using research from ANY source to assess viability and make good plans. So help if you can    

I also plan to make a mock-up price list and website. How complete the website is depends on time, but it gets me extra brownie points.[/b]

You may want to look at the PROFESSIONAL SOFTWARE thread, that's the basic thrust of the thread, a way to help small businesses to compete with bigger businesses using open source Operating Systems and software.

[KernelPanic]

Anybody else?

[1mck]

Hey, I may not be very much help, but from what I have derived from your list is that you want to give some solutions to a business (pretend, of course) to migrate away from Windoze....Pick out the most "user friendly Linux OS" out there. Perhaps, Lycoris Desktop/LX, I know that they have specific licenses for businesses. (As does everyone else)
Just an idea, write to them that your employers are interested in migrating their business over to Linux, and they have tasked you to gather as much information as possible about all of the different distributions, and pick out the best one to present them with. Of course you will be lying, but I'm sure they'll fire off a bunch useful information that you'll need for your project:)
Of course, this is coming from someone who can't get Mandrake Linux to work on his crappy computer.

Hope that this is of some help.

1mck

[Calum]

can you expand a bit on what actual services you will be supposedly providing to your clients? i am a bit hazy on the business speak in your list there, maybe you could flesh out more what you want and i bet i can ferret out some links for you.

[KernelPanic]

Penguin Digital Solutions will provide full Linux and Open-source solutions to a customer's IT problems. We will provide the following services:

Linux ready hardware supply - Systems certified to be fully compatible with the RedHat Linux Operating System will be provided to customers. For businesses full networked solutions can be provided and fitted (for extra cost). For the first 18 months of Penguin Digital Solution

[Calum]

just off the top of my head, and after 5 minutes on my favourite search engine, here's what i found:

here's a short list of some people who sell machines with linux preinstalled (and presumably who also provide support for them)

here's a few ZDNet articles about using linux as a new solution on the corporate desktop (which i haven't read yet so i don't know if they're any good)

here's a punter-friendly article about win>lin migration, written in the form of diary entries, basically

and here's a good looking site that seems to have articles about a lot of hardware and corporate desktop type issues as well as all the usual stuff you get on a linux info site.

on that subject, here's my favourite 'general knowledge' documentation source for linux. it is a good place to go and find easy to use docs about how to do something quickly. [url=http://www.yourlinux.co.uk/distros.html]also, have a look at this this company sells cheap linux CDs worldwide, and this is their list. they review all the different flavours that they sell, so you can get an idea of each distro without having to try it out.

that'll keep you going, but i don't think it'll be yr lot, so let us know what specifics you need too, willya?

good luck!

[ September 01, 2002: Message edited by: Calum ]

[KernelPanic]

Thanks Calum!  

[Calum]

no problem! i didn't realise you had already posted those specifics! that was certainly quick!

[KernelPanic]

I had been thinking about it all day lol

[voidmain]

I don't know if these will help but you should find good example info here:

Look at the links under "Company" and "Partners" here:
http://www.penguincomputing.com/

http://www.linuxcare.com/

http://www.vasoftware.com/

http://www.dell.com/us/en/biz/topics/linux_faq.htm
http://www.dell.com/us/en/biz/topics/linux_000_products.htm
http://www.dell.com/us/en/biz/topics/linux_004_products.htm

http://search.hp.com/query.html?la=en&qt=linux&qp=

http://www.ibm.com/Search?v=11&lang=en&cc=us&q=linux