There is no longer any discussion about the benefits of open source software within organisations. In order to take full advantage of these benefits now and in the future, it is wise to have a number of things in place.
Organisations often opt for open source technology because the costs are much lower, the software is often innovative, and also because of the freedom and flexibility. In other words, no more expensive licensed software, no more vendor lock-in and state-of-the-art software.
An open source solution or product is often the result of a combination of various open source software components. Each component has its own purpose and added value, the combination bundles them into a standard open source solution that is suitable for use within an organisation.
New business models have developed around open source software in general and to open source solutions in particular, so that organisations (the users of open source software or solutions) can make optimal use of open source with minimal risk. Issues such as release management, 7×24 SLA based technical support, but also access to knowledge should be regulated.
Predictable and stable release management is a must. The coherence of the various open source components must remain intact and an organisation (the user) may never be saddled with the challenge of following the new versions of each component and assessing whether or not they continue to function within the chosen open source solution. In addition, from a management perspective, an organisation needs by definition a predictable multi-year release calendar (major and minor versions). As an organisation, you want to know what the life cycles of the various releases are, in order to be able to make timely decisions about moving to a new(er) release, also based on the available functionality in the various releases.
As a user of open source software, you would like to have a single point of contact if something goes wrong or if you have questions. Of course, you can contact the open source community concerned (the developers), but you don’t know who you can contact and when you can expect a response. Unpredictability all round and this will not work for organisations. You want a party you can talk to, who can solve your problems, who can answer your questions, etc. and with whom you can make clear agreements (a service level agreement) so that you are 100% sure that you can fall back on them.
Our 100% open source PostgresPURE product is based on the community version of PostgreSQL bundled with standard open source software components for High Availability, Backup/Recovery, and Administration etc. Of course we take care of a predictable and steady release management and you can always contact us if necessary.
In short…we deliver you the benefits of open source!