OrecX is a Chicago-based company that has created the first open-source call recording software company, targeting small businesses. According to the company, "Voice recording is high in demand to create an element of professionalism and quality customer service but because of its cost, it's been out of reach for many businesses."

Fair enough. So, OrecX aims to use open source to lower the cost of tailored voice recording solutions, which are normally priced at $1,000 to $4,000. I doubt many companies will actually customize OrecX's solution, preferring instead to tap into the cost savings, but that is one valid way to leverage open-source software.

Another way is that which Transverse, an Austin-based company, has chosen. Transverse is focused on expanding revenue opportunities for telecom providers with its Customer Asset Management solution and blee(p) platform

Hmm...what does that mean? From the company's website:

My own experience with analysts is mixed. Analysts tend to be great at predicting the past, but far less adept at predicting the future, which is actually what customers expect from them. If you look at such things as Gartner's Magic Quadrant, it is great at showing where the industry was, rather than where it's going.

The problem is that analysts like Gartner get their information from the vendors that subsidize their research, as well as from CIOs. Neither is a good indicator of where the market is going.

As Billy Marshall classically wrote, the CIO tends to be the "last to know" about new IT initiatives. As for the vendors, the only ones with enough cash to subsidize research are the same ones that have a vested interest in protecting existing cash cows. In other words, the past.

Analysts, then, are a lagging indicator of success. They tell an enterprise buyer from whom she should have purchased software and hardware a few years ago, not where she should invest IT dollars tomorrow. As an example, despite the massive influx of open-source vendors in the enterprise, Gartner persists in believing that open source is years away from making a dent in the enterprise, and you'll rarely find an open-source vendor in a Gartner Magic Quadrant. Here's a recent Magic Quadrant for Business Intelligence. No open source need apply.

Putting open source aside, some analyst research is so egregiously off that it's almost comical.

Symbian's dominance in the smartphone space has been taking a hit

His verdict? Charge for your product, but be careful whom you charge.

Chris Anderson elaborates on this theme:

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