For a deal ending up north of $ 300 K, this pioneering platform solved multiple problems. The "mothership" needed a high degree of control, flexibility, security and scaleability. But satellite partners in this public sector organization did not need and could not afford the investment required to duplicate what had been done in the hub.
A great answer was available via simple open source satellite deployments. Delivering the security, capability and manageability demanded by remote customers, the open source solution enabled the core organization to move forward with confidence.
When an ecosystem is defined by standards, you can win by matching the right scale solution to the right ecosystem tier. And your software sales effort itself can become an ecosystem of mutually supporting tiers. Are you thinking about software and sales ecosystems?
Please see the attached schematic showing how vendor and open source solutions can work together in a rich B2B ecosystem.
John Morris has worked in IT sales and marketing since 1985, establishing a track record of pioneering tech business successes at vendors including Oracle (3 yrs), Magic Software (7 yrs duration in the ecosystem), Digital Equipment (5 yrs) and IDC (3 yrs). 
