There are a growing number of open-source enterprise products that can be readily customized for your business. These include complete solutions for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), E-commerce, Asset management, E-procurement, Human Resource Management (HR), E-learning, Document Management, Content Management systems (CMS) and other business applications. With over 100,000+ open source products available for download it is very likely that "some one some where" has built some thing very close to what you need. So why invest time and money in reinventing the wheel. What's more attractive is that these software systems are available for free. The logical option is to use open source software as a starting point.

Open-source software is becoming pervasive for core computing and business applications. Everything from basic operating and telecommunications systems to accounting, inventory, contact management and personal productivity applications, can be run on open-source software. As you do not pay for the free open-source software you have a low cost of acquisition, and you have the source code as well. Your only expense is for the customization, deployment and support that accompany the open-source software. Using open source you can save money, take products to market quickly, and get higher quality through best-of-breed software solutions.

NewCreationIT offers open source strategy, product selection, ROI assessment, implementation, and training services, at very competitive rates. Engineers at NewCreationIT will help you identify, customize, deploy and support open-source software systems for your business needs. Imagine! No more huge licensing fees!

What is open-source?

Open source software refers to software that is non-proprietary, available at no or minimal cost, allows different software components to operate compatibly, and makes the source code freely accessible. Open-source does not always mean the distribution of source code without a monetary fee. Rather, it is code that is distributed without restrictions and boundaries, for any one to modify and any one to use.

The Open Source Initiative (OSI, opensource.org) founded in 1998, are stewards of the Open Source Definition (OSD) and the community-recognized body for reviewing and approving licenses as OSD-conformant. The 10 key criteria that identify software as open-source as prescribed by OSI are: (1)Free redistribution (2)Must include source code (3)Derived works to be distributed under same license terms (4)Integrity of the author's source code (5)No discrimination against persons or groups (6)No discrimination against fields of endeavor (7)Distribution of license (8)License must not be specific to a product (9)License must not restrict other software (10)License must be technology-neutral. More information can be obtained form opensource.org.

Open Source Licenses

The most commonly used open source license is probably the GNU General Public License (GPL, gnu.org). In brief, the GPL requires that if you modify source code that is distributed under a GPL, you must also distribute that modification under a GPL. Other open source licenses include the Library GPL (formerly known as the Lesser GPL), the Apache License (apache.org), the Eclipse Public License (EPL, eclipse.org).

Commercial Open-Source

Essentially, a commercial open source license provides you with the application’s source code without any obligation to share any modifications or enhancements you make with anyone else. So if an open source software has been obtained under a commercial open-source license, you are free to say “No” to any other party if they ask for your modifications. A commonly employed business strategy of commercial open source software Firms is the Dual-License strategy, where the same software is offered under both the Free/Libre Open-Source (FOSS or FLOSS) such as the GPL and commercial open source licenses. The end-user determines which license best suits their needs.

Why choose an open-source product?

Free from vendor lock-in

Using open-source essentially frees you up from being locked in to a single vendor, and the associated limitations and problems. Using open-source you have access to the source code and you can continue to customize yourself or add additional features that are contributed through a process of community development, etc. As there is a growing global community of organizations supporting open-source, you have a choice of which vendor will provide your service.

Security

Open source is generally more secure than closed source software.

User driven

Much of open source software development is driven by the user community and is therefore highly responsive to user's need.

Low cost

Total cost of ownership of the software and its data is usually dramatically less than proprietary software.

Proven

It is likely that most best-of-breed open-source products are already in production use some where.

Flexibility

Open source directly addresses the concern of customization. If the open-source software has functional gaps with your business processes, instead of changing the processes, you can simply change the software. With open-source you have the product’s source code to customize it exactly to your company’s specifications – look and feel, features, functionality, integration, etc. As your business evolves over time, you can continue to modify the software to match new processes.

Sustainable

As there are no licensing fees associated for the software itself, you put your money when and where you need it to expand features and functionality.

NewCreationIT offers open source strategy, product selection, ROI assessment, implementation, and training services, at very competitive rates. Engineers at NewCreationIT will help you identify, customize, deploy and support open source software systems for your business needs. To learn more about our company, our services and how we can assist your business, please contact us: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it   or submit a request online.