Sadalbari Open Software now offers JBoss open source J2EE training and support in SA.
Cape-based Sadalbari says it is a silver JBoss authorised service partner and the first authorised JBoss partner in Africa, and can offer local production support and training provided by a certified JBoss consultant.
Sadalbari specialises in J2EE development and supplies various products in the open source domain.
Sadalbari Open Software CEO Lisa Retief says JBoss can be particularly helpful in the South African market where foreign currency licence costs can be crippling and remote product support problematic.
She says a key barrier to entry to the use of open source software in the past has been the lack of infrastructure around these products in the form of documentation, training and production support.
"Although the product quality might have been outstanding, the learning curve associated with proficient use and administration of open software was often prohibitive.
"As a company, we are passionate about the valuable role open source software can play in building our South African economy and making us globally competitive," says Retief.
Sadalbari's announcement comes amid growing acknowledgement that a major barrier to open source adoption in SA is a lack of support and training.
Last month, Novell announced it would partner with local outsourcing company Choice Sourcing to launch a nationwide Linux support centre.
"While open source users previously had to rely mainly on Internet support to address their software problems, the national support programme will provide a reliable and accountable system," said Choice director Alek Zdziarski.
"When we asked people why they weren't adopting open source, the reason we most often heard was that people want someone to blame, and I think this deal will offer that to the customer."
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