Sharing the wealth is a pretty good rule to go by if you’re able to share it, and there’s been plenty of examples where if you don’t you end up with someone like Robin Hood who will share it for you. When it comes to the world of web development there’s never been any doubt about that, and that’s why source code is made available as open source as readily as it is. The widespread adoption has been of immense benefit to anyone who ‘builds’ anything worthy of mentioning for design and functionality.
Here at 4GoodHosting we’re like any good Canadian web hosting provider in that there’s some of us around here that speak Programmer, but there’s others that don’t speak it at all and that’s alright. Some weeks our entries here may be a little bit more digestible for the less web-savvy of you all, but this likely isn’t going to be one of them. If you’re a coder or if your someone who can appreciate what web development is doing for marketing and promotion capacities for your business then this is something that will be of interest.
Adopting new business strategies or implementing new technology is a proven effective way to grow and compete more effectively. More and more regularly it’s open source technology being tabbed as some seek a competitive edge and more of the latest innovations. A published survey not long ago found that 85% of enterprises reported using open source in their organization and in simple numbers adoption of the software really taken off over the last year. Almost half of these same teams are looking to rely more on open source in response to everything that’s changed (and they’ve learned) over the course of the COVID pandemic.
The Right Fit Now
You will be challenged to find anything around us that is NOT powered by open source today, from mobile phones to household appliances and more. Being able to build on the existing foundation of technology and not be hampered in making use of what you can to build your expansion on it is what open source is all about . Open source and permissive licenses give businesses real agility and the ability to move faster, experiment and innovate to be as competitive as possible in their space.
Open source is transparent and open to inspection, and as a result businesses benefit from the capability to utilize and process their own data independent of how it goes for a single vendor or a single product. Then add to that the open development model and contributions from small and large enterprises and a few select ‘big players’ like Amazon that make it so that open source is consistently at the very cutting edge of innovation.
One huge plus is that bugs in the code can be identified, diagnosed, and resolved quickly. Many have said this alone makes open source software more secure than any proprietary software. However it is true that open source can be more difficult to implement than proprietary software as it’s usually not so plug-and-play in the same way. In order to maintain it you will also need to keep on top of patches and updates.
Because open source software code is built for the community it does come with some challenges. The worldwide open source community doesn’t give direct support for individual businesses using the technology. There are forums, online guides, and elsewhere you can often look and find the information you need.
Add Management
And here is where managed open source enters the picture. It is an express solution to some of the key challenges associated with open source software and lets businesses obtain the best out of open source software without also having to take on responsibilities for maintenance. Managed open source providers handle implementation, maintenance, and security. This frees up the in-house developers to focus more on important work contributing to business growth rather than spending time ‘running things’ on either end.
Open Source and Cloud
It’s expected that the global public cloud infrastructure market will expand massively in 2021 with some expectations being around 35% growth and some $120 billion in sales. What’s driving cloud adoption is what is driving open source adoption in exactly the same way - business agility along with the ability to innovate and experiment at a speedier pace.
In the bigger picture businesses need to find a mix of solutions that fit them and their individual use-cases. For many businesses, that mix will include some combination of open source software and cloud technology. Implementing these technologies with the right support can promote growth, agility, and innovation. Businesses are coming to see how open source can help them and because this trend will continue if you do speak the language it would make sense to be brushing up on open source.
