A new type of software, called Open Source software, promises to bring enterprise-class computer systems to the small business.  
Many people with small businesses have never heard of open source software. Simply put open source software is software that is freely distributed, complete with the original code that makes it possible to change it.. There are no restrictions placed on your specifying how to use it. There are no restrictions placed on your specifying how you use it, and you can usually obtain and install it with no licensing charges. In contrast, proprietary software is software sold by a company without the source code, or with licensing restrictions.

Why should you care?

Open Source software can save small businesses a lot of money.

One of the problems with open source software is that there are an overwhelming number of choices. For every type of system, there are at least a couple, if not dozens of open source solutions to choose from.  We have listed some of the commonest and most useful packages for you to look at. We hope you find these useful and the articles on specific packages tell you where to find them so you may install them yourself.

For business use we offer advice to help you make good choices for your business. An initial consultation is free of charge, that way we can find out about your business and you about ours. The plethora of choices means that we can build you a system that exactly suits your needs, your processes, and your preferences, rather than having to adapt your processes to fit the way a particular program works. The big idea behind open source is that software should be a service set up to help your business, rather than a product your business consumes.The list of free software grows longer every day. Already a large proportion of the Web servers in the world run on free software. For example the list of major companies and governments using Linux is growing every day. A few examples include:

IBM
HP
Oracle
Amazon.com
Yahoo!
Google

There is free software for email, graphics manipulation, financial software, customer resource management (CRM), content management, scheduling, and even entire office suites. So if you just want an alternative office suite to run on your existing Windows computers without paying hundreds of pounds per copy or a full blown Linux network contact us to discuss your requirements and what you need to know.

Most business people have a lot of questions about open source when they first hear about it. Many of these are prompted by rumours or misinformation you'll find all over the place. There are a lot of myths surrounding open source software. Open source developers call these myths FUD, for the Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt they spread. Nothing debunks myths like good information, and that's what you'll get from us. As part of our Open Source Software service we'll give you a honest answer to:

Can I use Open Source with My Current Systems?

One common misconception people have about using open source software is that it's an all-or-nothing proposition. The reality is that you already use open source software without even knowing it. If you've ever used a Web browser or sent an email, you've used open source software.

Can I get Help for Open Source Software?

If anything, support for open source software exceeds that of proprietary software.True, there is no software company obliged to help you just because you paid for a product, but there are many service-oriented companies, ourselves included, that provide support for a fee.

Is Open Source Secure?

Security is a big concern, especially if you need to keep data private. Companies in the UK are required by law to keep personal data confidential. Some open source projects have a poor security record, while others are very strong. Again, the same thing can be said about proprietary software.

Is Open Source Reliable?

Technical excellence is the primary goal of most open source projects. Open source projects are guided by engineers, not managers. Programs that have been developed in an open source environment tend to be extremely stable and reliable.

Will Open Source Meet My Needs?

Obviously, the answer depends on what your needs are. For the majority of businesses, the answer is a qualified yes.

Who Pays for Open Source?

This all sounds suspicious. Who are all these programmers, writing programs for free?

It is comforting to have a company standing behind a product. You install it  and expect it to work. If it doesn't, you contact the companies technical support and get your problem solved. If there's no software company, who do you call?

Who can you hold responsible?

The whole idea behind open source software is that it is an exchange of ideas and techniques among professionals. By sharing knowledge, everyone who participates benefits. If you stop thinking about software as a product and start thinking of it as a service provided by professionals, open source software begins to make a lot of sense.

Even if you buy programs from a software company, you still have to spend time and money getting them set up right for you. As soon as you have a network, you need somebody to administer it. This is true no matter what type of software you use. If you buy a software product, first you pay the software company, and then you pay your IT person to set it up.

More and more businesses are finding that they can save a lot of money by cutting out the software company part of their expenses. Instead of paying for a one-size-fits-all product, companies of all kinds are finding it more economical to pay someone to install free software that already exists and to develop specific modifications to it for their particular needs. Pro-Open source companies, like us, focus on solving your problems instead of selling big fancy products. We sell support for the software we give away. Even where we sell our own products our emphasis is on support.

Why Should I Use Open Source Software?

Open source is well matched to small businesses. Computers are capable of helping your business in ways you may not even have thought of. Until recently, only expensive proprietary software packages addressed many needs, and only large enterprises could afford many of the solutions on offer. With the latest open source software, suddenly you have access to high quality, stable, excellent software at an affordable price - the cost of implementing change to suit your needs.

All software costs money. You either have to pay somebody to implement and maintain your systems, or you have to take the time out of your income-producing activities to implement them yourself. But with open source software, that's your only cost - you can avoid the thousands of pounds of licensing costs of proprietary software.

No vendor lock-in
No need for piracy
Contact us today to discuss your needs.