The German job market is driven by SMEs. Statistics show that more than 99% of all German businesses are Small to Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs). The European Union’s January 1st, 2005 definition of an SME is a company with less than 250 employees and less than 50 million Euro turnover. When you take a look at these companies’ server racks, you will rarely come across a Linux server. Why?

SMEs with up to 250 employees have significantly different IT needs compared to larger companies and public institutions. When choosing an Enterprise Linux Distribution, there are over 2000 programs available ranging from database management systems, programming and scripting languages and software design development environments. Companies without solid Linux know-how are already challenged in selecting the necessary components. If certain components are missing, then the server will not be stable; if unnecessary software is installed then there is a higher risk for attacks and server maintenance becomes increasingly complex. Update management needs to be handled by a Linux professional - the interdependencies of the installed Open Source components are so intricate.

Thus SMEs need simple solutions, not the comprehensive software and service packages of larger companies. Only when Linux is offered as a complete package will it become a technology of choice for the SME market.