Recession Triggers Year of Open Source
What you are seeing now is part of the relaunch for our corporate site. What could be so exciting about yet another corporate site make over? The costs for this web site redo have been dramatically reduced because we are using open source software.
This recession has motivated companies to find more cost effective ways to get the job done. Open source web applications have no licensing or upgrade costs and very little set up and maintenance costs. Many of the more popular open source projects have huge, viable developer communities that enhance and extend those projects so the chances of finding a suitable fit for your needs are actually pretty good. Open source also makes great sense for entrepreneurs who are starting their companies on a shoe string budget.
At Dynamical Software, we always look for the right mix of technology and process to advance our clients needs better, faster, and cheaper. For a lot of our clients whose needs are primarily publishing, collaboration, education, and e-commerce oriented, we are finding that open source is the best fit for their situation.
I have been an advocate of open source for quite some time now. I have published my personal list of favorite developer oriented Open Source Tools years ago. I am administrator for a small and humble open source project that employs web 2.0 technology for a community oriented news publishing portal called the Web 2.0 News Portal.
Has the recession prompted you to reconsider open source alternatives? If open source web application platforms interest you, if you are a start up entrepreneur or are responsible for your corporate site, then I hope you take a look at this recently published executive white paper and accompanying presentation that discusses how corporations can benefit from open source web applications and lists the applications that I believe can serve as the most effective portals for enterprise marketing and collaboration.
