Open Source based companies are making more waves

Sacramento, CA. In the world of business today, computer software is a neccessity for getting the job done. Every business must cope with the cost of licenses, upgrades, maintenance, and training. Recently, one Northern California company has set out to make those realities much easier, and less expensive for all.

Generisoft, based in Davis, California, has taken a pragmatic approach to an everyday problem. "We just knew that open source software was becoming bigger and was not going away. At the same time, the quality was becoming better every year," said Steve Baumann, founder and CEO of Generisoft. He relates that, "...most people just want a solution to get their work done, and unless they're in a business that requires a specific solution, they aren't interested in shelling out two, three, four hundred dollars for every package of software they need. A generic package, that's easy to understand what it's for, and easy to use is going to satisfy their needs. Think about the last time any SIGNIFICANT features were added to a popular Word processing program, that you REALLY NEEDED, that justified another $300 for the newest version..."

His generic approach seems to have an added bonus: "Not only will we save our customers the hassle of finding, and downloading these applications, but we include video and audio based training on how to use each program on that disc...," somethng that even this reporter knows the big companies are not doing. "Most companies will then get even more money from training, support and other related services," Mr. Baumann says.

Bill Gates was right when recently, while commenting about MIT's $100 laptop project, he related that hardware is only a small part of the overall cost of computing. The way that most software companies are set up these days, that is an unfortunate truth. With generic open source software packages, it doesn't have to be the only truth. While Generisoft is currently in the ramping up stages of its' business, it's easy to see that for customers, investors, and other companies looking to make a spalsh with consumers, this is a company that will be worth watching.