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Introduction

In essence, operating a FLOSS business does not differ from operating any other business. The same basic principles do apply in terms of understanding user needs; project and product implementation; service delivery and support. There are however differences. It is often experienced by FLOSS service providers, that potential clients are so used to (or locked in) to proprietary solutions, that challenges exist convincing potential clients of the value and merits of FLOSS solutions. Furthermore, FLOSS development harnesses the volunteer contributions of geographically distributed community of developers and users. This may mean that companies doing business in FLOSS have to rethink and develop specific skills to deal with FLOSS communities.

However, many FLOSS users and potential clients are not technical savvies and simply want a complete solution. As demonstrated in Module 2.2.3.3, there is a need for business not to focus on the solution alone, but also educate their clients. Educating the client is more than just training [Module 6] or delivering/displaying documentation, but education in what the FLOSS concept [Module 1] is all about. Thus, beyond community involvement, specific skills are also required by FLOSS service providers to engage with potential and existing clients (some potential FLOSS clients (eg. NGO, Governments) are discussed in Module 3), in order to be able to service these clients. This module leverages (your - the trainee) general business skills covered in Module 4 and applies them to discuss how FLOSS business may be different from other types of businesses, community building and networking (as an extension of Module 1.3 on “Evolution of FLOSS Communities and Software Markets”), strategies employed by FLOSS businesses, and FLOSS based innovation.

Overall Objectives

The learning objectives for this module are as follows:

1. To understand the main differences between running a FLOSS business and running a proprietary software business, as well as non-software types of service businesses.

2. Be familiar with the strategies of cooperation and coopetition that are typical for FLOSS.

3. Know the specific challenges in marketing FLOSS, and how to overcome them.

4. Have a basic understanding of the role of innovation in FLOSS business.

Sessions and Timetable

The entire content in this module is estimated to be delivered in 1 day, with some variations within the modules. For instructional purpose, the content of this module can be delivered as proposed in the summarized table below.

Days/weeks	Session	Module name	Duration (hrs)
Day 1	Session 1	How FLOSS business is different from other types of business	0:45hrs
	Session 2	FLOSS communities	1:00hrs
	Session 3	Competition, cooperation – coopetition	0:45hrs
	Session 4	Marketing FLOSS	0:45hrs
	Session 5	FLOSS Strategies	1:00hrs
	Session 6	Innovation in FLOSS business	1:00hrs

Module 5 contains the following sub-modules:

Module 5.1 How FLOSS business is different from other types of business. Read more...

Module 5.2 FLOSS Communities. Read more...

Module 5.3 Competition, cooperation – coopetition. Read more...

Module 5.4 Marketing FLOSS. Read more...

Module 5.5 FLOSS Strategies. Read more...

Module 5.6 Innovation in FLOSS Business. Read more...

Reference. Read more...