6 Reasons I Love Open Source Software
I've worked in the Document Management industry for over 15 years now and have had the pleasure of either selling or using capture products from Kofax to EMC, AnyDOC to Readsoft. I've also worked very closely with a number of systems integrators and resellers who have sold Document and Records Management Software (DMS/RMS). Until last April I proposed license-based solutions for any of my customers, whether their driver was purely capture, full document management or a combination of the two.
In April 2011 I was asked to look at a solution from the Open Source world, which offered all the functionality I had thought was only available in license-based software. Shortly after I started looking for capture solutions from the Open Source world I could see that this route to market had the potential to make a massive impact on the thinking of the corporate world.
But why was I so taken with Open Source software? Here's 6 reasons:
1. Enterprise Class
Thorough testing of these solutions and comparisons with all of the document management solutions that I have image enabled and integrated with in the past shows the Open Source solution we have found is truly Enterprise Class. This system offers exceptional performance, reliability and scalability. It even integrates with your Active Directory, if required, offering the excellent levels of security you would expect from an enterprise class solution.
2. Additional Flexibility
Open Source software is excellent for building flexible solutions to meet exactly with your business needs. Access to the source code enables developers, and those technically minded, to build a system with modules and customisations that can really make a difference to the way you use the software, build a solution and engage with each and every department within an enterprise.
3. Reduced Business Risk
In itself this point has the single biggest impact on a business. Minimising the long term risk to the business is, after all, absolutely essential. By choosing enterprise level Open Source technology a business is essentially deciding to use an extremely open architecture. This frees itself from proprietary databases, licensing issues, and most critically, end of life issues. Ultimately, there is no tie to a single operating system or the technologies that go along with that.
4. Low Entry Barrier
The software in its simplest form is free. This means that you can easily identify a single process, department or requirement and test it with no need to commit to licenses. This testing can take as long as you need it to as there's no pressure to purchase.
5. Faster Deployment
Customisations are quick and easy to develop. New modules can be brought to the table in approximately one tenth of the time it takes to deliver for proprietary systems. Which ultimately leads to my sixth reason.
6. Lower Cost of Ownership
Because Open Source solutions use the most up to date development methods and languages they cost a lot less to upkeep in the long run. It is estimated that these solutions can be up to 70% more cost effective than using a traditional document management solution.
All in all, when I started my research into these technologies I was rather sceptical. I thought there was no way in which Open Source software would meet the needs of my customers. After 6 months that has totally changed the solutions I've found for capture, document management, and a mix of the two offer everything I'd expect from a traditional license-based solution without all the cost or tie in. I have to say I've been blown away. During this research there were two specific market areas I concentrated on: capture and document management.
Here's a summary of the two products, out of the many tested, that I would not hesitate to suggest to my customers:
Capture – Ephesoft
Ephesoft is a mailroom automation product. It automatically classifies documents and then captures index data, or meta tags, from them on a free forms capture basis. The company is owned by some of the most experienced people within the document capture marketplace. I believe this is a solution to watch and within the next 12 months it will be chomping at the heals of some of the major players. Epehsoft is 100% CMIS compliant, making it extremely easy to integrate with other Content and Document Management systems.
Document Management – Alfresco
Alfresco is the largest privately owned Open Source company in the world, generating revenues in excess of $100m. Their solution is completely web-based, so it can be installed on premise or as part of a cloud-based solution. Out of the box you have easy access to Document and Content Management, Workflow and Records Management. Alfresco software is also 100% CMIS compliant.
See my next post: Is Document Imaging Dead?
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