DB2 Free Production License

Following up this DB2 post, DB2 Express is no charge. This is useful for development, learning, and lightweight production.

Open Router Software

XORP is an open source IP router that can run on PC hardware. Enterprise-class routers from Cisco and other routher manufacturers have been highly priced and are often administered by high-priced people who typically barricade their knowledge from the rest of the IT staff.

This Business Week magazine article considers the threat to Cisco that is posed by XORP.

Open source has been sweeping the IT industry. Operating systems, databases, and application servers all have several viable open source products. Products in the networking layer of the IP stack still have fat margins and over-priced personnel and support. This stronghold of fat margins is now under seige by open source.

Online Store Operational Costs

Strategy and Buiness magazine has an article online about the cost to serve of web stores. The article explains how some products are more or less tailored to online sales, and how stores with online and physical presence can tailor their product stocking to reduce the cost to serve.