An Era of Open Source Software

Ever come across the term “open source software” or worked with it? The first thought that comes to the mind for anyone who hears this term would be of something that is “free”. And it is rightly so! Who would mind working with something that is free of licensing hassles and is available for almost no cost ?

Technology industries usually view “open source” as something that adds agility to their businesses – a feature that warrants more value than any other in the rapidly evolving marketplace. The increasing demand along with its growth in the industry is fueled by its ability to quickly develop new applications that are not only economical in terms of production costs, but are reliable as well.

In its initial days, open source was considered to be merely a reference for source codes and a project development model; it has since shot past being that. Nowadays, open source is being seen as a challenge for incorporating innovation in the world of technology, scouring for solutions that break away from the tradition, in an environment where keeping all processes transparent is the prime focus.

As an individual even if you are not too acquainted with what and why-s of open source, it is available everywhere and you often use it. In this era of computing where functionality is as important as the performance, many successful enterprises rely on open source software. Also, there are quite a few benefits associated with the implementation of open source software pivoting on costs, speed, risk mitigation and quality; ably aided by a large community of contributing developers.

Here, we look into four reasons that act as a catalyst in driving programmers to choose open source software over fully licensed ones:

• Costs:
  The source code for most open source software is easily accessible to programmers or technology companies, which can be downloaded from their community sites. Developers don’t have to cough up any upfront capital licensing costs to use the software.
• Quality:
  The open source code development produces and ensures better quality of code. What more could be expected out of a system that features a diverse category of programmers, other than high quality of output code!
• Business Agility:
  It has got nothing to do with “Agile Development”; rather it implies the developers’ responses to the changing market trends. Open source facilitates the software to efficiently adapt to the changing markets and consumer demands.
• Mitigates Business Risks:
  Open source software development provides transparency in operations, i.e., developers are at a better position to mitigate business risks. The developer community can scrutinize, modify and enhance existing codes to keep the application up and running at all times.

There are a number of tech companies that not only champion the use of OSS but have also benefited big time from open source software. Some of the big names include core businesses like Cloudera and RedHat along with social networking giants like Facebook, Neflix and LinkedIn.

It would not be wrong to draw the conclusion that open source allows you to create better software in a highly collaborative environment, where technology is utilized in the best possible manner. With open source development, it indeed becomes the case of inverse proportions, implying accelerated development at considerably reduced costs for a top-notch end product.

The reason behind the success of open source software can be attributed to the culture it follows. Organizations are capable of delivering quality software with improvements and enhancements being carried out round-the-clock. A hypercompetitive market calls for continuous innovation, while a steady workflow is maintained across all functions. Businesses can reap the benefits of working in a collaborative, creative and free-flowing environment for developing their software.

On a closing note, the team of developers at Clavax Technologies not only favor the application of open source software, but have also achieved quantifiable results with applications developed using them. Open source software undergoes continuous upgrades and performance optimizations, which ensure that applications built on them, are functionally efficient. View Our Portfolio