Conversion to Linux

[Sean Crago]

>Currently implementing Sharepoint - would love to find an OS alternate for this

One easy win is implementing more effective and open collaboration
software than Sharepoint. It's a great document repository, but it
sucks at pretty much anything else that I've ever seen anyone try to
make it do. Might I suggest just firing up a web server and pushing
out some new services? Have ye a wiki yet? What about other social
networking software? If you don't have Office Communicator in the
field, you could roll out an LDAP-authenticated Jabber system.

If you guys are heading in the collaborative technologies direction
anyway, the above may be easy things to tack on in a related side
project. Roll out Sharepoint, a new Wiki (possibly embedded into
Sharepoint via iframes), and/or an IM service under a fancy n00b
friendly moniker all at once. Seems like the sort of thing my employer
would do - Obvious cons, obvious pros. Complicated rollout, potential
big morale boost from rolling out something easier to use than
Sharepoint or a Wiki ala an IM system. Get a positive "shucks, that
was easy" from the customers that might bleed over into training on
the more complicated parts of the rollout.

That said, I guess the key point would be to offer something new and
not just change for change's sake. Most end users and management could
care less what's on the backend. They want new but easy to use toys
that help them increase productivity.