Johannesburg, 05 May 2009
Businesses that opt for open source solution equivalents of proprietary software applications can reduce the total budget required for its implementation and operation by 50% to 60% over three years.
That's according to Yossi Hasson, CEO of managed Linux services and open source solutions provider, SYNAQ, who says that with the slowdown in the economy, businesses need to investigate viable alternatives in order to meet their IT needs in the most cost-effective way possible.
“For many businesses, going the open source route could spell the difference between implementing a project that boosts business efficiencies, or not. Indeed, when there is little to differentiate the functionality of an open source solution to its proprietary equivalent, the cost savings that come with open source are extremely compelling,” he says.
According to Hasson, it isn't only the saving on licensing requirements that makes the difference, although these are considerable. Savings are also achieved on the investment requirement for the hardware on which the application has to run.
“In many instances, the open source solution is less 'hardware hungry' than its proprietary equivalent, which means businesses can leverage off their existing infrastructure without compromising on the application's functionality,” he says.
However, Hasson continues, the benefits of open source solutions to a business go beyond cost savings.
“The enormous strength of open source is its flexibility. An enterprise usually wants to use IT or a specific application to differentiate itself. An off-the-shelf package might only meet 70% to 80% of what is required and the package might have to be customised. That could be expensive.
With open source, customisation is easier and less expensive as the user has access to the source code.
“There is no doubt that as budgets come under increasing strain, the open source will start to look increasingly attractive to businesses of all sizes,” he concludes.
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