Open Source software for business has been much debated over the last couple of years. But with Microsoft’s Vista operating system hardly enjoying a smooth ride since its launch last year, it now looks like Linux is finally gaining traction in the business world.
Timely, perhaps, that one of Europe's best-known Open Source consultancies, Sirius Corporation plc, is celebrating its tenth birthday by offering free expert advice on Open Source software and its application in business.
The objective for the new service, dubbed 'Open for Business', is to encourage more organisations to adopt an 'Open Source, Open Standards' policy in their procurement of technology. Sirius argues that this policy, already used by brands such as Specsavers, will become increasingly common as budgets are squeezed.
Launched in association with Linux User and Developer magazine, the new service will seek to dispel the remaining mysteries around how Open Source can be utilised by enterprise users of all sizes.
According to Sirius, the business case for Open Source software is proven. With no licensing fees to pay and no vendor lock-in Open Source is moving well beyond 'Linux at the edge of the network' to a more central position in enterprise IT.
Although some buyers have been prepared to pay a premium for software marketed by big brands, Sirius believe Open Source's benefits will become more attractive as enterprises face the challenges of an economic downturn.
Mark Taylor, CEO, Sirius Corporation said: “It’s easy to understand why Open Source is so attractive. Low cost and flexible license terms - all of these give Open Source software a compelling value proposition.
“Our hope is that the new online advisory service will open up the world of Open Source software to even more businesses with the assurance of a 'no-strings' guarantee.”
However, when checked at the time of writing, the Open for Business discussion forum was decidedly ghostlike. Don’t let that put you off. Get the ball rolling by asking a question.
And being one who endeavours to practise what I preach I did just that; asked a question about Open Source content management systems after debating with a client, a small fund-raising membership organisation, about whether to spend £140 on Adobe Contribute or go for the free Open Source content management system, Joomla in order to update their existing website.
Having had no exposure to Joomla, my natural instinct was to opt for Contribute. But on trying out Joomla for the first time, doubts began to emerge.
Adobe Contribute, to clarify matters, is a software package whereas Joomla is a web-based application that is installed on your web hosting server. Contribute, runs locally on the user’s hard disk while Joomla operates remotely on the website’s server, which is required to support PHP and MySQL. In some cases, it may be necessary to upgrade to a higher spec hosting package.
The answer to my query appeared in no time at all and made for some interesting reading to which I will now point the client. I will also check out www.cmsmatrix.org because Joomla is not the only Open Source CMS package out there to tempt the small to micro-sized business. There’s also Drupal, Plone, and Typo3, for example, so being able to compare and contrast their individual features via cmsmatrix.org will be invaluable in narrowing down which offers the best solution for the particular circumstances of this client.
My initial fear, which is borne out by the reply posting, is that the likes of Joomla involves a steeper learning curve for the novice web editor than the commercial software, Adobe Contribute which is fairly intuitive as it is effectively a cross between a web browser and a Word-like text editor. Joomla, on the other hand, isn’t so immediately user-friendly and requires a certain amount of effort and concentration to master quickly.
Adobe Contribute versus Joomla looks set be decided by points in the last round and is meantime in danger of becoming a tag match rather than a straight-forward head to head. Check back here again for the edited highlights.
