Open Source Consultants Take the Pain Out of Growth
Open source consultants allow your business to benefit from lower software overheads without sacrificing the support or control you need
Posted by Killian McAleese, 27th May 2011
All online retailers will at some point consider using one or several products from the plethora of free or enterprise-grade open-source software that's now on the market.
Whether it's a SaaS product with an open-source development model like Magento, an ERP like OFBiz, or business intelligence (BI) from Talend, the range of products is now greater, and the quality better, than ever.
But as most retailers are aware it's not all plain sailing. Most products, even Magento with a support package, require technical knowledge and staff time, which as we know cost money.
Worse still, problems stemming from a lack of sufficiently skilled staff, like system outages, lost customer order data, returns and the extra, resultant costs of manual workaround tip the scales the other way, leaving some retailers wishing they had gone with a proprietary product with the comfort of 24/7 support.
Proprietary Problems
As worrying as this scenario may be for online retailers, it still amounts to patching up one problem with another.
Why is the proprietary option a problem? We're not going to claim that proprietary software is inherently problematic or always the wrong choice. But what businesses should consider is that proprietary does have its disadvantages.
Vendor lock-in, for example, can easily tie a business into a situation which isn't the right fit. It is also wrong to assume that proprietary is as flexible and scalable as your business needs dictate.
And, of course, there are the costs.
The Solution
The best way to take full advantage of open-source software without paying for your own highly skilled team of developers (and, don't forget, one with plenty of spare time) is with an open-source consultant.
One of the biggest advantages in approaching an open-source consulting company for your business is the fact that open-source consultants compete with proprietary vendors!
Why is that an advantage? Simply put, open-source consultants are well aware of the strengths and weaknesses of open source as well as the strengths and weaknesses or proprietary vendors and are able to leverage their expertise to customise a solution for your business which by its nature eliminates the problems.
No vendor lock-in, plenty of flexibility and scalability, and customisation for your business's needs and, most importantly, the expertise required to find the right solution that changes with your business, rather than the other way around.
Open Plus and Open Source
If you'd like to find out more about how Open Plus leverages open source and cloud technology as part of our consultancy services, whether it's selecting appropriate products, implementing them for you, training your team to use your system, integrating new products into your other systems, or more, you can phone us at 0207 107 2688 or fill in the form on our contact page.
We'd like to hear about your experiences.
Is open-source the best route for online retailers?
Is it too much for a retailer to take on alone?
