RSS feedsThe idea of being able to get software for free is very appealing. Not having to fork out for often expensive software licences appears to be a no-brainer, especially for SMEs struggling with the usual cashflow issues. But the big question is whether you ever really get something for nothing in this life and if not, what are the catches?
What we’re talking about in this context is open source software (see below). It’s been around in a formal sense now for about 20 years and, in some areas, is starting to move into the mainstream, especially among larger companies.
But among SMEs, adoption is still fairly limited. This is because initial investments in IT tend to be focused on purchasing Microsoft Windows-based PCs for the desktop as well as accounts and email systems that again are usually Microsoft-based, not least because of the vendor’s high brand recognition.
Nonetheless, says Steve Craggs, a director at research firm Lustratus, some organisations may be using open source products without actually realising it. ‘If you ask most people: “do you know anything about open source?” they’ll hesitate. But if you say: “do you use any free software such as the Firefox browser?” a lot will say yes because they’ve used it at home. So people may not understand the words ‘open source’, but they do understand the concept of free software.’
Third-party services
Another scenario in which companies may find that they are using open source by
default is if they employ a third-party provider to host their website, as it is
a popular choice among internet service providers (ISPs). Many ISPs opt to
deploy an Apache web server running on the Linux operating system (OS), both of
which are open source products, because they are generally considered to be more
reliable and secure than Microsoft equivalents.
The same may also be true if an SME purchases a turnkey system running a specific vertical application that is supported by their dealer. The company won’t know or need to know that it is based on the Linux OS, for example, but nevertheless, it will be and is also likely to be cheaper than a similar Microsoft-based system.
Where this scenario tends to change and adoption to become more active rather than passive, however, is among those organisations that have either employed an IT manager or even a small IT team.
Dale Vile, managing director of analyst company, Freeform Dynamics, explains: ‘Although this is not necessarily typical of the broader SME space, open source adoption generally falls into two camps. There’s the tech-savvy small business that is comfortable with technical stuff in general and then there’s the technical enthusiast, who sometimes will have a bit of emotion in there because they resent having to pay money to Microsoft.’
Daniel Cooper, technical services manager at Net-a-Porter.com, an online luxury fashion retailer, agrees that open source software particularly if it has been downloaded straight from the internet, is not packaged up by a supplier into a computer-usable application and has no enterprise support bundle attached (see below) is unlikely to be an option for those organisations that do not have IT skills in-house. The retailer opened for business in 2000 and employs 300 staff, 35 of which work in the IT department.
‘Open source is definitely too complex for the average small environment. You need the right support structure in place to provide a good solid platform and, while you could work out how to bring a Linux box up with relatively basic IT skills, to do things properly, you’d need to have a good working knowledge of the product,’ he says.
Tech savvy
Nevertheless, points out Cooper, although open source expertise tends to be more
expensive and harder to find than Microsoft skills, staff are generally of a
higher calibre. ‘The main reason is that the people who know about Linux and
open source tend to be more interested in the technology and so have a real
enthusiasm because you have to be motivated to take on the extra level of
complexity,’ he says.
Net-a-Porter.com itself has used open source software, including Red Hat Linux and the MySQL database, which come with enterprise support licenses, to run its online operations since inception. It employs Microsoft products on the desktop for email and also for file and print services, however.
‘I wouldn’t suggest that we move to open source for traditional office systems as it adds complexity, there’s a training cost and it would lower our capacity to be compatible with partners that use Microsoft Office systems,’ Cooper explains.
But in the web world, he believes that open source is the right choice. ‘The main reason for us using open source is the total cost of ownership of Microsoft/Intel platforms for web services,’ he says. ‘Licensing is much more expensive as you tend to pay for the number of users that connect to the site, whereas you don’t with Linux, so it’s a big investment when you’re starting out. It’s also harder to find quality Microsoft staff for hosting.’
The essence of making the right choice, however, Cooper believes, is not being too religious about it. ‘It’s about finding the right tool for the job,’ he explains.
Another organisation that has gone with open source software, meanwhile, is beam.tv. The company was originally spun off as a separate business from production house, The Mill, although it has been brought back in-house after The Mill was purchased by private equity firm, the Carlyle Group, last year.
Beam.tv used open source software from the outset to write and run its core IT system, which enables it to store TV, radio and print commercials and campaigns as digital files and deliver them online to 70,000 customers around the world. In the past, the industry used to rely on overnight couriers delivering tapes.
The organisation wrote its IT system in an enterprise version of an open source development language called PHP, which was provided and supported by a commercial company called Zend.
James Stewart, systems manager at the company, explains the rationale behind the move. ‘When we were a start-up idea, there wasn’t much money to throw at the project, but using open source means there are virtually no barriers to entry because you don’t have to pay licence costs. So you can effectively start a business from scratch with a database, application and Apache web server you just need the expertise and the time to do it,’ he says.
Another advantage for technically-aware companies is that they are able to make changes to the source code of their software if they hit any problems. Staff can also go into internet chat rooms and receive support and answers, if they are available, from members of the wider open source community.
Community benefits
Stewart explains the benefits that this approach brings. ‘It means that you’re
not at the mercy of the vendor because you can change the source code yourself
or hire someone else to do it, as you see fit. One of the real areas of value
here is that the process is open and you and the community contribute back and
help each other out.’
But he acknowledges that such flexibility does depend on the necessary skills being available in the first place and that open source software tends not to be quite as user-friendly as Microsoft equivalents because it requires specialist knowledge.
The real nub of whether to go down the open source route or not depends on the level of risk that an organisation is able and willing to tolerate. On the one hand, it may be a false economy to rely on the advice of an enthusiastic techie who wants to download open source software from the web, especially if they leave and the company is left in the lurch in IT support terms, says Vile.
On the other hand, if the business obtains open source software from a local dealer or supplier that is prepared to offer commercial support contracts and service level agreements, there should be no more problems than there would be with purchasing closed source software.
‘Open source software is no better or worse than closed source, but you need to go through the normal selection process and ensure that whatever you choose is fit for purpose. My advice is don’t listen to the evangelists or the sceptics as neither are the best ones to advise, but go with the option that makes the most sense to the business,’ says Vile.
What is open source software?
Open source software is not owned by a single vendor, but is developed and improved upon by predominantly volunteer programmers, who share their work with peers and the wider public on a free-of-charge basis. They also provide software support to each other via the web and internet chat rooms.
As to what the open source software means, the ‘source’ part refers to source code and the ‘open’ bit indicates that this source code is freely available. This means that if it is in the public domain, the source code can be viewed, used, modified or distributed by anyone, although if it is licensed, most commonly under the General Public Licence, this is subject to certain ethical restrictions.
Source code comprises the underlying instructions that can be read by humans and that tell the software what to do.
Applications such as word processors or spreadsheets have had their source code packaged in a special way to create a product. This binary code can only be accessed and read by computers.
Closed source or proprietary software vendors such as Microsoft are notoriously hostile towards this approach, although others such as IBM work with the community and support open source operating systems such as Linux.
But there are now also commercial open source vendors such as Red Hat that act as a half-way house between the two worlds. Red Hat, which distributes Linux and other open source software, packages up the source code into a usable binary format and makes it available for free.
Catherine Everett is a freelance IT journalist
