Proprietary vs. Open Source
Right now I am battling the decision of proprietary vs. open source. There is a definite need for You Design It to go to the next level by implementing a Content Management System. Here is my disclaimer first though - I am not an expert on the subject of “Proprietary vs. Open Source”. I can just write about how it relates to our situation.
There are a few factors that we are considering before implementing a CMS, but here is why we are leaning to the open source option:
- Which option has a better return on investment? The most important factor is the cost because we have to follow the ROI so closely. Typically open source is less expensive because the development has already been done but there is still a fee to implement. 9 times out of 10 this integration fee costs less than custom development. Depending on how well our system was built (less hard coding and more object-oriented) will determine the cost.
- Does it fit our needs? We have decided on the Content Management System out of all of the open source options and it is really powerful. We have spec’ed it out to find that it more than covers our needs. Plus, since it is open source, we would get to benefit from the always increasing features and improvements as they are available. The flip side would be to go proprietary and just create what we need to accomplish our strategy. Any features thereafter would incur more costs as they are needed.
- Can it work with our existing hardware? This is already going to be an obstacle that we will face because our current servers run Windows and the content managment system works best on Linux. I have had a continual problem with our servers anyway, so this will provide us with a good opportunity to migrate to a server farm with 24/7 support.
- Does it scale for the future of our business? I eluded to the answer to this one in #2. Given the nature of open source, we should see some good extensions and improvements to the system that will allow us to grow. Most of these features are very competitive with what is hot in the market at the time they are created.
- Which implementation is quicker? Undoubtedly plug-and-play is almost always faster. They are built for integration and most of the discovery process is already taken care of. Going custom in this case is kind of like re-inventing the wheel.
These are our most immediate general concerns. I am sure there are going to be a few more roadblocks regardless of the route we take. I will keep posting about our efforts on this subject……..
March 28th, 2007 at 9:42 am
I think I fell asleep reading this….
April 4th, 2007 at 6:49 pm
Hi Blake - I think your perspective is wrong. You should hire an in-house developer so that you can add different modules as you need them. So this would be the proprietary route.
1. You ask which one has a better ROI. This depends how you look at it. Yes, if you are looking for a cheap way to get a CMS up and running quickly then yes OS CMS is the route to go. One thing you don’t know about those systems is when you upgrade, it may not be compatible to your current Server software which will cause a bunch of problems. So the notion that when they roll out new modules you will get them free is not realistic. Open Source does not always = lower cost. When you have humans doing things for you, it costs you money. Object-orient development is hard code. I think you were trying to say its more flexible then hard code.
2. Yes, in-house dev’ing will cost you money. But, you own it and you are free to do what you want with it. Meaning. Resale to other start ups that can use your software. Sell it as a subscription (Web 2.0), and let the subscriptions pay for the future improvements and modifications. Here is a free tip, go Ajax with your application. That will make you stand out from the rest (You do want to separate yourself from the rest right?)
3. For Server side scripting I would use PHP. This will run on Windows, Linux, Unix and Mac. Since I mentioned Ajax, you would use JavaScript for your client side scripting. And of course hard code HTML. Make it dynamic so use MySQL for the Data base. Again, runs on any platform. Personally I run Redhat on my servers. You will want to get a dedicated server that is managed. Don’t buy your own server because if any hardware breaks they will repair it for free. Also, you will want to get a Hosting company that is reliable, lots of security too if you will be housing Credit Card info. So encryption software is a must.
4. I am not sure what CMS system you are looking at as you state competitive features. Again, do it in-house and use Ajax. When you say grow, software is software, you should concern yourself with hardware. I think one server is good enough for your business. Seeing Internet logs your sites are not that busy.
5. Going custom is not as fast and its not re-inventing the wheel. The Internet is evolving, the question is this. Will you take your new application to the new experience of the Internet or will you continue to use a flat approach.
Its clear you should hire your own developer and build your own application. Not only will the application make you money from your visitors on your site, but you can also resell the software for a monthly subscription plus a setup fee.
Keep posting, curious to see which route you go. Gotta go and work now Beefy
April 4th, 2007 at 9:35 pm
@ Beefy:
I appreciate the time you took to add your opinion. I am not sure we are on the same page though. I am lookin to add a Content Management System for my existing application “You Design It” which is my core business. Creating my own CMS and trying to sell subscriptions is about as far off as I could get from my core business and revenue model.
Also, thanks for the suggestions on hardware. The only thing that is really clear is that you don’t have a clue of what you are talking about. Did you really suggest encryption software? Is it 1991 and we just figured out that people might try and steal our credit card info? Did you think I was just hosting this blog in thin air? Of course I use servers and “encryption software”. Do you think I should have firewalls too? Give me a break.
Btw, use a real name because I see that you are in Houston and maybe I would hire you to take out the trash for me. CLEARLY, you are qualified for that.
April 5th, 2007 at 9:16 am
You my friend are a moron. Lets look at your check out page on your core business model.
I am sure Visa and Mastercard would like to know you are taking people’s info over a NON-secure socket.
Your on a shared server, that gets less then 5K visitors a month. Your site has broken links and you dismiss my input.
I was giving you good advice, no doubt if you run it by a half way decent dev, they will agree with me.
Since when has OO code been software, moron its all hard code.
Beefy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBQ79FrHxmA
April 5th, 2007 at 10:03 am
You got me. You won. Nice video.