The open source (free software) movement has grown significantly in recent years. The current trend highlights an increasing popularity and interest in open source on a global scale. Everyone from the IT industry to corporations, governments and individuals knowingly or sometimes unknowingly use open source software on a daily business.
On the whole, the effects of using open source in business are advantageous, with the main benefit (not surprisingly) being lower software costs, since open source software is free, not usually requiring licensing fees. Any expenditure involved relates to obtaining documentation and/or support if required.
Due to the competitive nature of the market, many proprietary software vendors have made similar free products available, for example Oracle and Microsoft. These companies felt the need to react aggressively to the success of MySQL’s open source software through enhancing their own product ranges. In other words, MySQL’s advance has had a catalyst effect on the market, forcing vendors to develop open source software, benefiting businesses and other users globally.
As well as lower software costs, another advantage of open source is lower hardware costs. Open source solutions such as those offered by MySQL are compact and portable, meaning less hardware power is required to carry out the same tasks as on conventional servers or workstations. Hardware savings can make a significant difference to a business, making open-source all the more attractive.
Source code availability and the right to modify is another meaningful advantage of using open source software in business. This characteristic means that a business is able to modify parts of the underlying software to more closely meet their requirements and objectives, and in turn help differentiate themselves in their own markets. This is one of the key benefits offered by MySQL software which contributed to the company’s success.
Vendors will frequently make the necessary modifications to their software themselves to benefit users. For instance, MySQL incorporated users’ suggested modifications/improvements in a newer version of its database which not only benefited users through an enhanced function offering, but the company as well since they were thereafter able to compete to a greater extent with competitors (Stanford, 2006).
Source code availability also makes it easier to uncover bugs and get them fixed (Barahona, 2000). In general, bug fixes along with updates and new versions of open source are available very frequently, meaning a business would not have to worry about working with an outdated version.
Another advantage is simplified license management. The fact that a business can download the software and install it as many times in as many locations as need be is a major plus.
The ability to use the software in any way combined with redistribution rights has attracted many business users to MySQL software. Consequently, this increase in users has helped build up a market for support and customisation of the software, which in turn has attracted more and more developers to work on improving the software – a benefit to business users in the long run since product quality and performance will constantly be improved.
The open source software provided by MySQL and similar providers (e.g. Linux) comes complete with scaling and consolidation ability. More specifically, multiple options are available for load balancing, clustering, and open source applications, such as database and email. Combined with an abundance of development resources, this gives businesses the ability to scale up for new growth or consolidate to do more with less (Williams et al, 2005).
What also makes open source an attractive option is the fact that businesses are able to avoid traditional vendor ‘lock-in’ (Williams et al, 2005), e.g. ongoing license fees, lack of portability and the inability to customize software to meet specific needs, all of which arise from being in a contract with a typical closed source software supplier. Essentially, open source provides businesses with freedom of choice and few restraints – more key reasons underlying the success of MySQL.
Nowadays, training packages are made available for open source software, meaning businesses can choose to have their staff highly educated in operating the software. MySQL offers a comprehensive set of training and certification courses across the world, providing users alike with the training option.
Unfortunately, it isn’t entirely benefits that are associated with using open source software in business. There are some major drawbacks which should be considered before a business decides to ditch previous software packages in favour of open source.
First of all, open source isn’t necessarily always free. There are on occasion unforeseen/unanticipated costs, e.g. administration, implementation, service and support costs. A business would have to strategically analysis possible future costs and financial capacity to ensure the correct decision is made.
The fact that no free support service exists is a major disadvantage of using open source software within business. Although, this in turn presents an opportunity for the developer to earn significant revenues. For instance, MySQL in response to this problem produced the MySQL Network - a subscription service available to paying customers which provides various forms of support and updates, making it simple for businesses to solve problems and manage an unlimited amount of MySQL servers (Stanford, 2006).
Although this new service dramatically increased revenues for MySQL, the company encountered large numbers of customer complaints which was an unforeseen outcome. This was down to an increase in customer expectations arising from having to pay for a service.
Through choosing to use open source software, businesses could be limiting themselves in terms of capability. To illustrate further, commercial closed source applications are generally more feature rich (Gittens, 2007) and could thus be a more suitable and valuable option for many businesses. This is a problem for MySQL who recently released an updated version of software which was considered to be inferior in comparison to that of Oracle’s which included better features (Stanford, 2006).
Finally, there is a concern over whether or not open source software is secure. By enabling anyone to view the source code, it makes it easier for hackers to find security holes within the applications, which could potentially compromise a business using the software.
According to recent research, MySQL has 59 ‘vulnerabilities’ in contrast to the safer IBM DB2 (4 vulnerabilities) and Microsoft’s SQL server (only 2 vulnerabilities) (Higgins, 2006). This is obviously a major factor which should make business think twice before choosing open source, at least until the security problem is resolved. On the other hand, this does not necessarily mean that closed source software is a better option from a security perspective, since there are security issues associated with closed source software too.
Conclusion
MySQL’s success has led to key competitors such as Oracle, Microsoft and IBM lowering their prices significantly. As a result, businesses are spoiled for choice when it comes to selecting cost effective software.
From analysing the advantages and disadvantages of using open source in business, it is evidently justifiable to conclude that open source software is highly advantageous and beneficial. The quality and dependability is of a very high standard and according to some research, perhaps even equal to that of closed source software (Halloran & Scherlis, 2002).
References
Gittens, C., (2007), “Open Source is still fighting against fear”, Willodale, March, Vol.33, Iss.4, p.25.
Available at
http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=7&did=1252213981&SrchMode=1&sid=3&Fmt=2&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1197083184&clientId=46002
Gonzalez-Barahona, J., (2000). “Free Software/Open Source: Information Society Opportunities for Europe?”, European Working Group on Libre Software, April.
Available at http://eu.conecta.it/paper/Advantages_open_source_soft.html
Halloran, T.J. & Scherlis, W.L., (2002), “High Quality and Open Source Software Practices”, Position Paper.
Available at http://opensource.ucc.ie/icse2002/HalloranScherlis.pdf
Higgins, K., (2006), “Databases At Risk”, Information Week, Iss.1116, p.62.
Available at
http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=9&did=1176667721&SrchMode=1&sid=3&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1197083184&clientId=46002
Stanford Graduate School of Business, (2006), “MySQL Open Source Database in 2006 (B)”, Stanford Graduate School of Business, May.
Williams, J. & Clegg, P. & Dulaney, E., (2005). Expanding Choice: Moving to Linux and Open Source with Novell Open Enterprise. Novell Press.
Available at http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=376255&rl=1
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