Enterprise-ready open source

The significant differences in the development and licensing of open source and proprietary solutions are accepted. The methodologies for each approach are worlds apart. Partly due to this, many approach implementation and deployment of open source differently from proprietary solutions.

While there are some differences between each in this regard, however, implementation strategy is one field where the two share many similarities for effective deployment. This is especially true for enterprise customers who, while saving on their total cost of ownership and gaining other advantages via the use of open source products, still need to consider reliability, support and other factors in making the solutions work for them.

If the imperatives for a successful open source deployment are broken down, there are three main elements that make for a successful implementation. The first is a suitable vendor, the second is a skilled local implementation partner who can provide suitable skills-transfer and, finally, certification is key across all components of the deployment.

A successful and enterprise-ready implementation must ensure all bases are covered in terms of support and certification. These are similar to the key considerations for proprietary solutions, but in some cases are even more important.

Market acceptance of the benefits offered by the open source development model is growing, but in realising that open source development leads to awesome and highly customisable technology solutions, it is also important to have someone on-hand who can take care of the support of those products. Traditionally, online communities have largely handled support for open solutions. This is a highly effective way of obtaining free help from enthusiastic open source supporters via mailing lists and online forums and is especially powerful for individual users of desktop systems, but when it comes to enterprise solutions it is simply not good enough.

Enterprise customers require a verifiably reliable support structure. First and foremost, it is imperative for any company wishing to deploy an open source software solution to have proper backing from the relevant vendor. This backing can come in many forms, but at the end of the day someone must be able to pick up the phone and take responsibility for their own solutions running in the customer's environment.

On-demand support is vital in the modern business arena where businesses must be reactive and able to resolve problems rapidly. This adds to the overall agility of the enterprise and reduces downtime. Having vendor support for products is the first tier to forming a support tree that comprehensively covers enterprise-level open source solutions.

This is also where certification comes in. A reliable vendor will offer certification for their applications, as well as hardware platforms and in training. Top enterprise-level Linux and open source products all offer full certifications, to partners, supported hardware platforms and in the form of training. By ensuring that the vendor has these certifications in place, customers can gauge whether effective support will be offered from them. A regard for certification should filter down to all levels of support.

Local support must also be available for any specific piece of technology, especially when it comes to skills implementation. There seems to be a misconception in the market that open source deployments are very different from those of proprietary vendors in this regard. When it comes to deployment, however, the same rules apply.

Market acceptance of the benefits offered by the open source development model is growing.

Muggie van Staden, MD, Obsidian Systems.

This means working with an implementation partner who is certified by the vendor on their solutions. It is favourable if this partner has also done it before and even more so if they can ensure local support. This represents the second tier in the support structure for enterprise open source deployments. The implementation partner is key to providing customers with support and should, again, be vendor-certified in working with the specific solutions being used in the implementation. The trick is to bring together a supportive vendor with a locally skilled implementer and ensure that skill transfer takes place. If this can be achieved, then the company is assured of a good enterprise open source solution that can be banked on (literally, in some cases).

This brings us to the final leg of the support platform; a good implementation partner should not only be certified in implementing and supporting the applications they are working with, but also in providing certified training to the customer. This leaves the enterprise with hands-on skills within their environment that offer rapid reaction to problems and a front-line in support.

Where things go wrong is when any one of these three tiers is disregarded or when not enough attention is given to certification. By covering bases for global vendor support that is locally supported by a certified partner and in ensuring that in-house skills are obtained, open source solutions gain robustness in support that can be rapidly acquired.