Why Open Source is Good For Your Business

Using an open source solution is not entirely free, but it is considerably less expensive than commercially-licensed solutions in several key areas.

There are no license fees with open source software.
You are free to prototype, develop, and even deploy without paying a cent to a vendor. The savings are especially significant if the application is spread across a large organization or many locations. If you plan to share your application with partners, you will have to force them to incur license fees to work with you.

Right-sized projects results in lower hardware costs.
Commercial vendors tend to bloat their products with many features that you do not need, in an effort to increase the list price and attract a broad array of customers. Open source projects, that are owned by the community, have significantly small IT footprints resulting in lower hardware costs and other technology adoption costs.

With open source, you buy only what you need.
With the software freely available, you are able to purchase just the services that you need, without being locked into comprehensive software-services bundles with lengthy contracts. Being able to buy training, consulting, and subscriptions a la carte further reduces overall expenditures throughout the life of the project.

Because open source software is not owned by a vendor, you are never held hostage by a single, for-profit organization.

Open source software is owned by the community,and no one vendor can control the project or monopolize access to it. As a result, thriving open source projects are surrounded by competing vendors offering add-on products and services. The benefits to you include

• You are always free to switch vendors – should one vendor raises their prices, there are others ready to take the business.
• You have more choices – competition leads to more choice when it comes to supporting products and services.
• As your needs change, so can your vendor – Should the requirements of your organization change, it is good to know that you are not tied to a single vendor.

Using an open source solution is not entirely free, but it is considerably less expensive than commercially-licensed solutions in several key areas.

Try before you buy.
You can work with the fully functional product for as along as you like – even deploy and load test – before you make any financial investment. Say good bye to shelfware.

Look into the code.
If you ever have a concern about what is in your software, you can look at the source code. Open source software can also be linked into a debugger to simplify development.

Modify the code.
If you want the software to work slightly differently, you are able to change the code. If the code is issued under the Apache license you can redistribute your version, making it very ISV-friendly.