javivazquez at eBox

eBox Platform 1.2 has been officially published and it’s ready for download from our repositories.

The latest version of eBox Platform includes a lot of new stuff, but I would highlight a couple of new modules that complete the functionality of eBox UTM and eBox Unified Communication Server:

The Intrusion Detection System (IDS, based on Snort) and the PBX that allows telephone over IP  (VoIP, based on Asterisk).

Furthermore, as the announcement points out:

“[...] eBox Platform 1.2 is the first partner-ready version, as it allows the registration of different eBox installations in eBox Control Center to facilitate remote access, managed services and advanced support for a group of eBox networks [...]”

It means that eBox is ready to sign with the partners which are currently in negotiations, offering them third level support for deployment and maintenance, certified training and the technology needed to become a managed services providers (MSPs).

Last, but not least, this release comes also with a surprise for your Ubuntu based desktops:  eBox Desktop, wich provides authentication against eBox LDAP and auto-configuration for the services provided by eBox (mail, samba, Jabber, VoIP, …).

From eBox 1.2 on, eBox Platform will be released on a 6 months basis. Our next stable will be eBox 1.4, which is expected for early January 2010.

What will eBox 1.4 include? Don’t go so fast, enjoy eBox 1.2 and stay tuned , the new features for 1.4 will be announced in the next few weeks.

I remember my days working for a free software services company, where people asked once and again: “how do you make money from open source?”. The answer was simple: “We sell time (hours), like lawyers do”.

Obviously, it’s not that easy, but it worked.

From a open source product company, such eBox Technologies is, the answer is also short, but it needs a longer explanation: “We combine open source with SaaS”.

eBox Technologies is a 100% channel focused company, say, we sell through our global partner network: VARs (Value Added Resellers) and MSPs (Managed Services Providers).

We offer to those IT companies the technology and services to fulfill their customers’ computer networks needs.

On the one hand, the support and training services for efficiently deploying and administering any network service that a SMB requires. eBox Platform, open source small business server (SBS), rules them all: Gateway, UTM, Infrastucture, Office and Unified Communications Server. It’s open source and it’s free.

On the other hand, a fault-tolerant solution to administer and monitor eBox Platform installations from a single interface. eBox Control Center is SaaS, web based and from the cloud.

In summary, eBox Technologies targets the SMB market through a global partner network formed by VARs and MSPs, offering them an open source unified network server -eBox Platform- and the SaaS technology to efficiently manage it -eBox Control Center- .

It’s a business model designed for growth and world domination.