Windows Small Business Server 2003 - Pros and Cons
Well, our company is and a turning point. We are currently faced with the decision to either move to a non-Microsoft environment where we would set up our desktops, servers, and what-not on Linux, or, move to a complete Microsoft environment, where our desktops run on Windows XP, our servers on Windows Server 2003, and our websites are in ASP.NET, etc.
Until now we were trudging along with the goal of running our business in a non-Mocrosoft, say, Linux, environment for the following reasons:
- Cost savings - Linux software is for the most part free and OpenSource.
- Secure server and network environments (less virus’, spyware, etc.).
- Product flexibility.
However, we are comming to realize, much to our dismay, that as much as we dispise what Microsoft stands for (Monopoly, exclusion of competition, market control, etc.), they do make things very easy for businesses. Only as long as you use Microsoft software across the board of course. Here are the drawbacks we are currently facing in our non-Microsoft environment, which let us to our current fork-in-the-road situation:
- Maintenance, development, custom content creation, etc. is all very time-consuming and tedious.
- We would have to create our own team-system for collaboration, file-sharing, etc. that fits our specific needs.
- All our focus and effort spent on creating our internal business infrastructure would dramatically decrease our productivity and not let us accomplish what we started the business for in the first place.
There we now have the pros and cons of the non-Microsoft environment. I am currently evaluating a total Microsoft-oriented environment to see how well it stacks up against the other scenario (Linux), as well as to see if it can provide a all-encompasing package, so that we don’t have to go out and purchase 3rd-party software. This includes the following:
- Windows Small Business Server 2003
- Live Communications Server 2005
- * Windows XP
- * Office Profesional Enterprise 2003
- * Office OneNote 2003
- * Visual Studio 2005
* denotes items installed on users’ desktops, unmarked items are installed on the server.
Over the next couple of posts I will evaluate each of these in comparison to a Linux equivalent that we are currently using. I would also be eager to hear your thoughts and experiences on this subject: please do comment! 