Why Open Source?

January 12th, 2005

While doing some consulting regarding software for a medium sized business, I was asked a very relevant question: “If you develop our software and disappear in a few years, how will I get support or further development?” It is wise to ask this question before making a major purchase such as a web site or business management software.

How to Manage Risk

How can your company manage the risk of lost support and development services when making a large purchase? There are three main ways to address this concern. First, hire a software development team to use open source technology and to provide documentation. This will allow other developers to be used to provide maintenance and further development in their stead when they no longer provide such services. Second, a partial solution is to calculate risk by looking at a company’s record of accomplishment and extrapolating their future health and continued availability. If you will be depending on a third-party software solution that is closed source, it is best to be as sure as possible about the company’s future prospects. Third, some established software companies make the source code of their applications available for a fee. This solution is similar to hiring an open source developer to create your solution and a cost analysis of both options may be required.

Analyzing the Options

Those of you who regularly read my posts already know that I analyze software purchase decisions in terms of cost and flexibility.

Hiring a Software Development Team

The first option, hiring an open source development team, makes the most sense from a flexibility standpoint. Rather than purchasing a third party software solution that needs extensive implementation and customization, your company can input into the development process and receive a lighter, faster, and more targeted software solution to your data or logistics problem. The cost of such a solution will depend on the size and complexity of the software solution and may require substantially less investment than an off the shelf solution that includes unwanted features. In addition, as the project sponsor you have the ability to influence technology choices towards those you feel will have the longevity your organization desires.

Extrapolating a Company’s Risk of Obsolescence

The main factor in making this decision will ultimately be your level of trust of the company in question. Measurable indicators are the length of time in business, the quality of past services rendered, and the satisfaction of current customers. If you are firmly convinced that a company who has already developed a software solution is stable and that their product is cost-effective, purchasing the software package may be a viable option. Be sure to investigate the cost of customization, licensing, and upgrades.

Purchasing the Source Code

Some software vendors may allow you to purchase limited access to their source code. This option will allow your own team of developers to customize the application for your particular needs. Care should be taken to determine the actual legal rights such a source code license provides.

Why I Recommend Open Source

Though third party software solutions offer features that will meet your business needs, a question that should not be overlooked regards what will happen if that software company no longer supports your purchased software. Quite often, it is effective to hire a software development team to create a custom software package built on open source technologies, or on technologies for which the risk of obsolescence is low. This protects your investment and allows further development of your information resources without requiring a built in reliance upon one team of web or software developers.

One Note of Caution: Licensing

When choosing to develop software on a Free Software Foundation or Open Source license, a developer may be forced to distribute his project free of charge and risk losing a substantial investment. It is important to consult legal experts before any final choices are made regarding a software package for further development. However, the days of closed source software may be coming to an end anyway … but that is a topic for another article.

Entry Filed under: Internet Marketing