Your Dilemma
You're comparing enterprise resource planning (ERP) software solutions. Or content management
systems. Or customer relationship management (CRM) applications.
Any way you slice it, you're looking at a huge investment of time and resources, with more than one job on the line.
And naturally, when you see the word "free" near the word "software," you're going to
shelf your cynicism for at least as long as it takes to see what the catch is.
FOSS is free, right?
"Any way you slice it, you're looking at a huge investment of time and resources, with more than one job on the line."
Yes. Free as in liberated. And sometimes free as in free beer nuts.
In fact, vendors do sell free and open source software applications. The free part refers to your ability
to copy, modify, study, and distribute the source code.
Still sound good? Why should it? Here are eight reasons to consider free and open source software:
1. Non-restrictive licensing
What it means: the solution can be customized and tweaked to suit the precise needs of your business.
2. No vendor lock-in
What it means: if necessary, you can switch the vendors providing the software-with minimal switching costs.
3. Dedicated support options
What it means: you can get help. Most companies providing open source software model their businesses around providing support, implementation, and customization services. Additionally, there is commonly an extensive community forum available as a support resource.
4. Interoperability between systems
What it means: you can reduce potential compatibility and version problems. This is not the case for proprietary systems, which may lead to fragmentation, or to version and upgrade incompatibilities. Access to the source code is absolute, which means that it can consistently be made compatible with the various offshoots of itself.
5. Future-proofing your IT investments
What it means: the demise of a FOSS vendor is less critical to customers than the demise (or acquisition) of a proprietary software vendor: the source code is freely available, and lives on, no matter what. In other words, even if a vendor goes bankrupt, another could freely take up development of the software or you could do it yourself.
6. Security
What it means: fewer worries. Simply put, the open source software concept assumes that the more people there are looking at the code, the better the code will be.
7. Stability
What it means: fewer crashes. By definition, open source software goes through trial by fire in the real world, unlike most proprietary software. That's why open source software generally gets better and better-and more stable-over time.
8. Cost savings
What it means: open source software licenses allow you to make and distribute your own copies of the software. Thus on a large-scale implementation, you can realize major cost savings in licensing alone. On the other hand, proprietary software products are often sold in a way that puts certain post-purchase restrictions on their use.
With open source software, you pay only for what you need. Some proprietary software vendors,
on the other hand, will foist their "best practices" features and modules on you-the IT
equivalent of brussels sprouts. They may be good for you, but you might find yourself hating the experience.
"With open source software, you pay only for what you need"
What risks should you consider when selecting FOSS software?
Migrating from existing proprietary systems to new open source applications may involve substantial
costs, and this consideration should be factored into your software selection process.
Despite the large quantity of commercial FOSS options, not all open source applications
are mature. Thus, there is an additional level of research required in selecting the right solution.
Since many companies can provide services (such as implementation and support) with respect
to a particular open source application, the process of selecting a provider may be more elaborate.
