Advantages of Open Source Software for Your Small Business

If you are on the lookout to see a solution for your business, then you must know why open source has a better edge over other software systems.

As software nerds, we can say that open source solutions are much preferable to the proprietary ones. Because when they are compared side by side, the former is safer, has more scalability, better support and license and a whole lot more.

In this article, we will be showing the advantages of open source software and the reasons why choosing an open source solution is better than the proprietary ones.

Reasons or Advantages why an Open Source Software is the Best Thing Ever

If you are using open source software tools then you will be enjoying a number of benefits. Here are some of the advantages that you can get:

• Easier Vendor Assessment

Before going to choose an open source solution for your enterprise, you will be able to vet your vendor with ease. No matter which platform you are going to pick, the most important thing is that you invest your hard-earned money on a vendor who gives support on your demand like fixing bugs, providing updates and security patches.

In open source, you don’t have to hinge on the vendor’s words as you can check the solution’s all characteristics by your own. And if the community of the solution is more diverse and constructive then you will not feel stranded down the line.

For example, the business automation software, WordPress ERP is 100% open source and you can check its status at your disposal from the WordPress.org.

• Scalability in Terms of Changing Market Trends

A solution must have to be consistent in terms of your business needs. That’s definitely the bare minimum. But with the passage of time, new technological revolutions occur. This is where you will need to scale your existing system up. And you will never want to change your existing system to another one because the change will cost you more.

In this regard, an open source application can save the day with its extensive development from different stakeholders.

• Customized Solution

The freedom to read the source code and to edit it makes you able to hire a programmer from the pool of contributors to keep your existing system alive. No matter what happens to the original vendor, your employed system survives by anyhow.

• Extra Security

This is where an open source application shines! You will be surprised to know that some vendors offer bug bounties to the communities as an extra incentive to contribute to find and treat security issues.

The best part of an open source platform is that you can check and determine whether the vendor of a solution followed the baseline-industry-standard development process which is recommended by Cloud Security Principles, ISO27001 and many more.

• More Concentration on Customers

Since the development of an open source software is more influenced by the customers’ demand rather than the vendor’s monopolistic marketing strategy, the focus on consumers’ gets maximized.

The open and synergic development process acts as a cornerstone and opens the door to a massive and quick evolution of that solution.

• Better Support with Versatility

Whenever you are using proprietary software, you will remain dependent on the vendor’s willingness in terms of getting support. You will explore yourself in the “Lemon market” for sure.

On the other hand, if you are using an open source software then you can get prompt support either from the vendor or from the others as it is an open market system where the Laizzes Faire policy comes in place.

• Better licensing

Unlike a typical closed source software, the open source software ships with more flexibility. The licensing clauses of a closed source software contain full of harsh and nasty clauses which are likely to take you down.

Most of the end-users and customers skip reading the terms and conditions and later when they discover that some of the clauses of those terms and conditions go contrary to their expected rights, they have nothing to do with it. Sometimes, what they get is nothing but the harsh behavior from their vendor.

On the flip side, open source licenses like the GPL and its derivative licenses are ready to keep your worries at bay! These licenses are designed in a way that gives more importance to the end users rather than the vendors.

For example, you will rest assured that the open source software allows you to integrate with the other software platforms using well-defined APIs, enables you to add unlimited users, allow you to use for unlimited time and doesn’t force you to configure your personal properties.

Related article: ERP Management Styles – How Open Source Systems Help?

The Key Takeaways

The closed source system will not provide you with ownership nor will give you better support than the open source commercial system. Besides, most of the time the proprietary systems will break your heart with their monopolistic product development rather than customer’s feature requests.

Most importantly, in a closed source system, you will never ever be able to customize the solution according to your needs. To conclude, we can say that an open source system is way better than the proprietary ones.