Open Integrators

The benefits of open source software are clear. We make open source work for you.

• Cost

• Most current Open Source projects are also available free of royalties and fees, leading to the confusion around the commonly used term `free software’. Regrettably the English language does not have separate concepts for free-of-charge and free as in unconstrained; other languages are better equipped to describe the difference between `freedom’ and `free of charge’ (libre vs. gratis). Proponents of free software licences tend to emphasise liberty over cost although in practice the main open source projects are free in both senses of the word.From a business perspective the purchase cost of software is only one factor; total cost of ownership (TCO) is what really matters. Other things being equal, the solution with lowest TCO is usually the most desirable one. Arguments in favour of low TCO for open source software include:
  • Possibly zero purchase price
  • Potentially no need to account for copies in use, reducing administrative overhead
  • Claimed reduced need for regular upgrades (giving lower/nil upgrade fees, lower management costs)
  • Claimed longer uptimes and reduced need for expensive systems administrators
  • Near-zero vulnerability to viruses eliminating need for virus checking, data loss and downtime
  • Claimed lower vulnerability to security breaches and hack attacks reducing systems administration load
  • Claimed ability to prolong life of older hardware while retaining performance

  Some longer-term claims are more difficult to substantiate yet they need to be taken into account:

  • Better adherence to standards permits competition in the market, reducing vendor lock-in and consequent monopoly pricing
  • Availability of source code provides greater continuity and security against
    • Financial collapse of vendors of key products
    • Vendors choosing to withdraw support for unprofitable products
  • Protection against being required to fit your IT strategy to the cash needs of your software supplier

  Unfortunately in this area there are numerous claims and counter claims. Reliable TCO information is practically unobtainable, although the case studies which form part of this guide provide a large amount of circumstantial evidence in favour of the argument. Most businesses will have to chose the argument on on its merits and choose to back the use of Open Source software where it seems most likely to provide either a clear cost win, or valuable leverage over entrenched suppliers.Flexibility

• Open Standards

• In a business context, software flexibility is about being able to choose solutions suitable for the needs of the users. Many commercial software products will claim flexibility as a built-in feature and some will undoubtedly be correct. Our view is that that flexibility should really mean business flexibility, so that as requirements in the business change, solutions should not be unreasonably constrained by software. In particular, we view this as being especially important in the area of infrastructure components — the architecture of the IT solution rather than any one package.To obtain flexibility at the architectural level, experience shows that it is often best to pick tried and trusted standards for interworking. If that is done, then best-of breed solutions can be selected for particular components within the architecture. Provided that the solutions can interwork suitably, the business should be able to avoid lock-in to a particular supplier and over-dependency. This is notoriously hard to manage, requiring a real act of will from management. What happens most often is that a vendor will make a `feature sale’, emphasising something which cannot be done through the standard infrastructure. If they succeed then the business can become dependent on that particular solution and unable to choose alternatives at a later date. Any astute vendor will attempt to do this, only vigilant managers can avoid the lock-in that follows. Proprietary data formats are a particularly good tool for vendors to use. If they can establish a bridgehead, their competition will not only have to provide competing functionality, but also data conversion tools from a (typically) undocumented or even protected format.Open Source projects have very little motivation to attempt this kind of lock-in strategy. Since there is no commercial benefit to be had, adherence to de-jure or de-facto standards (where they exist) is typically high. Where standards for interworking do not exist, the fact that the source code is published means that proprietary data formats can’t be used to manipulate lock-in. This at least partly explains the relative success of Open Source software in infrastructure areas. Many vendors have tried to create web servers to compete with Apache, but because the network protocol used between browsers and the web server is well specified they have had to compete on quality or features rather than through more insidious tactics. Any vendor that controlled the lions’ share of the browser and the server market would feel strongly tempted to exclude competitors by proprietary extensions to theHTTP protocol if they thought they could get away with it. No single vendor has yet managed to control both ends of this equation to a great enough degree.
  

  “Open Source software tends to be free of dependency on related products. Purchasers often perceive that the product works best with other products from the same manufacturer. Open Source software offers its users greater freedom to purchase other products, avoiding lock-in to particular manufacturers.” (QINETIQ2001).

  Business users are most likely to obtain long-term flexibility through the careful choice of standards for interworking and data exchange, followed by vigilance to ensure that freedom from proprietary lock-in is maintained in critical areas. The drawback is that standards inevitably lag in terms of glamorous features, making the feature-based ploy an easy one for proprietary vendors to use. Open Source products are strong in this area, not only from the point of view of adherence to standards but also by helping to mitigate against insidious lock-in if they are chosen as core infrastructure components.

  “It is the use of proprietary standards and protocols that effectively mandates the purchase of further products from the same supplier. Mandating the use of open internet standards (as in the e-GIF) rather than proprietary formats, and developing XML-based data definitions, for intra-Government, and Government-to-Citizen interoperability, is a practical approach to controlling the [proprietary lock-in]“. (QINETIQ2001).

  The choice is not easy. Many weaker managements simply roll-over and buy from a single supplier, but they pay a high price.

  Open Source software provides further flexibility through freedom.

  Freedom from a single vendor

  Software vendors can go out of business, and they can arbitrarily decide to cease development of a product. How would your business cope if it relied on such a product? Open-source software allows you to retain not just the right to use the software you already have, but the ability to continue to use it as your needs change.

  Freedom to modify your software

  You aren’t limited to what one company believes you need. Proprietary software vendors must cater for many different companies, predominantly their own. Open-source software can be tailored for the way you do business. It is usually within the resources of all but the smallest companies to modify Open Source software to suit their own needs (and potentially then to make those enhancements available as a public good). If in-house development skills don’t exist, a short email to the project’s mailing list will usually find a suitable consultant.

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