Value add – Databook
One of the things that most companies want when they choose a consultant is a level of knowledge and support that will always be there. It is not enough to simply do the job and walk away like many firms do; you want some ongoing support and a place to find information when you need it. Whether to answer basic questions like, “how do I…,” or to complex system administration tasks, you will always have some need for information within or even beyond the scope of the consulting contract.
Freedom of Information Act
The basic tenet of Open Source is that program code should be free. Open Source Software is free as in speech and so also should the information about it be free.
As a Linux and Open Source consultant I believe that information should be free. Not merely as with the federal Freedom of Information Act that requires the information seeker to request the specific information they are seeking and wait for the powers that be to decide whether it is in their best interest to release it, but really free as as in speech so that it is readily available when you need or want it.
This is the Value Add proposition addressed by Millennium Technology Consulting LLC. For us, Freedom of Information Act is a verb.
Memory Aid
Over the years I have collected a great deal of information about Linux and how it works. I have found that I needed the same information many times, but that I perform the associated tasks so seldom that I needed to re-discover that information. So I began saving things I had learned in a database that was intended to be a memory aid and to prevent me having to recreate the same information over and over. This database has grown significantly and will continue to grow in the coming years.
I decided that this same information could be valuable to many other people as well, whether they — you — are customers of Millennium Technology Consulting LLC or not. As a result, I opened up my database to the world so it is free as in speech, I and have made that information free as in beer as well.
That database is my DataBook® web site where I keep two books plus other information such as product reviews and a blog. The books are the DataBook for Linux Users and the DataBook for Linux Administrators. Whenever I answer a question for someone, or perform a task that requires a bit of research on my part, I try to add it to one of the DataBooks. This makes it available for me in the future as well as for anyone else who has the same need.
Proprietary vs Free
Some people have asked me why don’t I just charge for this information so I can increase my revenue stream. I could do so either by charging for access to the DataBook web site or by charging for my time to provide “customers” that same information. I choose not do to so for the simple reason that I believe that restricting information in that way sucks.
Many, in fact almost all consultants consider the information they have proprietary and want you to pay for it — all the time, every time. Frankly it is not in my best interest to work that way. What is in my best interest is to have well-informed customers with access to as much information as possible so that you can make informed, intelligent decisions. I believe that is in your best interest as well. I believe that if you are not currently a customer and you find the information I provide on my web sites useful, you will call me when you need a consultant. Period.
Contact Millennium Technology Consulting LLC when you are ready for a true Open Source Consultant. We do Open Source and Linux consulting for individuals and small to medium businesses.
July 13, 2009 8:33 am | 
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