For a number of years, there has been a movement in the computer industry to create "open source" software. A large community of developers has evolved to create software which is freely distributable and so in effect costs the end user nothing to acquire and use. The source program code for the software is also made available as part of the distribution, so that anyone can make modifications and redistribute the new software. A wide range of software products has emerged, for both servers and PCs, from operating systems through to office applications. For example you may have heard of Linux, an operating system that many companies are using in place of Windows. Licences for Windows are expensive; Linux is free for anyone to use. It sounds too good to be true.

Initially the open source software movement had little to do with the business world, and started as academic projects, and general experimentation in the computer hobbyist and hacker communities. The release of the Netscape browser code in the late 1990s started the real interest, along with the popularisation of the Linux operating system and the Apache web server. More recently, the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) has given its approval to open source. Last October, Microsoft upped its campaign to discredit open source, even claiming that the negative effect to the software industry will be extensive enough to damage nations' economies; a sure sign that Microsoft sees the movement as an increasing threat.

So if open source is seemingly being taken more seriously and becoming more widespread, is it something you should be considering when you look at property systems and other elements of IT for your organisation?

Firstly, let's be clear - you are unlikely to find any property software applications that are open source. The property systems we all know and love continue to be proprietary, and developed and sold on a standard commercial basis. In fact, the OGC report commending open source noted that business applications (like property management systems) are not widely available as open source software, and those that do exist are generally "immature… and lack industrial strength".

Although open source property business systems are not available, you may well consider the server and infrastructure products on which you run the applications. There is much greater availability of these types of products; operating systems (primarily Linux, but also others e.g. FreeBSD, FreeDOS), database systems (e.g. MySQL, Ingres, PostgresSQL), web servers (primarily Apache), and also various other types of infrastructure products such as application servers.

A key driver is cost; open source products by definition are "free". You do not pay a licence fee for the software. However, be aware that "free" software does not mean no cost. Licence fees are only a small part of implementing IT systems. Moving to open source involves all the resource and effort associated with any system change. Training and technical system migration are just two elements to consider. Ongoing support needs to be paid for even for open source products. You may have your own internal support team or in fact, there are many companies who package open source software to ensure its integrity, and sell the related services.

Another aspect of cost is the hardware required to run systems. The Linux operating system for instance needs comparatively lower specification machines to achieve the equivalent performance compared to proprietary operating systems. That can mean upfront hardware purchase cost savings and potentially a longer period before you need to replace hardware. At least one major UK property landlord we have spoken to is planning to move their property management and accounting system away from UNIX and proprietary hardware to Linux and less expensive Intel boxes, with estimated savings of many thousands of pounds.

Reportedly, many of the other technical characteristics of the open source infrastructure products are also better than their proprietary alternatives. They are apparently more stable and faster too. Security is perhaps an even more important aspect. Whereas Windows server systems have all features switched on and ready to use, the open source software tends to have to be configured from the opposite direction; features have to explicitly enabled i.e. the software only does what you specifically tell it to do. And of course, because open source is not currently as widespread, it is less of a target for virus writers. But on the other hand, some potential users may not trust software that has been developed by the open source community.

These characteristics, along with the no-cost licence fee, have made Linux and Apache a very attractive option for web servers; worldwide, up to 70% of all such systems now use this open source combination. This is a staggering figure when you consider how reluctant most businesses are to try something new. The trend is for web-based systems, and most companies seem to have a proliferation of servers these days. The open source solution for web servers could easily become an integral component of your business IT even where the rest of the installation's systems remain proprietary. Interestingly Google has chosen the cheap scalability of Linux boxes for the 6000+ servers underpinning their search engine system.

Of course, one of the attractions of Microsoft's products is the relatively easy set-up and configuration. Even the most devout open source supporters agree that there is a steep learning curve with products like Linux (unless you come from a UNIX background). This may deter many committed Microsoft users.

Similarly, the Microsoft user enjoys high levels of product functionality and integration between the different products. While some may say that an attraction of the open source software is that it is not crammed with features that no one ever uses, clearly functionality is an issue. The software must be able to do what you need. There are a number of open source products available for the desktop (including Linux, and also some alternatives to MS Office products and utilities such as virus protection, personal information managers and so on). However, these are still developing and while some seem to offer as much, if not more, than the proprietary alternatives, others are missing key features. The Mozilla Firefox browser is a good alternative to Internet Explorer, with added features like tabbed windows. However, although the recently released open source Thunderbird email client performs most of the mail message handling functions as well as MS Outlook, it does not include the same level of sophistication of group calendaring and scheduling, even with additional software extensions.

Unsurprisingly, interest and demand for open source within the property sector does not seem to have been extensive at this point in time. Some of the property system suppliers report that they have rolled out their systems for customers on Linux, while others say none of their customers have yet expressed any interest. Many user organisations clearly have a large investment in their Microsoft environments in terms of skills and integrated systems, as well as in software licences and hardware. While they may not be happy about the cost of Microsoft software, they have more important projects on the table.

But open source is making in-roads in other sectors, particularly in the public arena, partly for obvious cost reasons. In Europe, the City of Munich is rolling out 14,000 Linux desktops. Further afield in places like India and China, open source appears to be the de facto standard. Given the increasing number of users outsourcing IT to these regions, this may become more important.

Keep a watching brief. Don't be seduced by the headline free software offer but do take account of open source options in your decision making. At some point, someone will ask you why you are still paying for your organisation's software.

By Mark Jones
Mark Jones is director of Remit Consulting:

 
Copyright Remitconsulting © 2004     Disclaimer     Top of Page