Open source: The need of the hour
The JURwth RI RSeQ sRXUFe teFhQRORJy Ls FRXUtesy the current increased technological awareness as well as sRFLR-eFRQRPLF FRQdLtLRQs. GRQe DUe the dDys wheQ FRPSDQLes hDd D tRXJh tLPe seOOLQJ RSeQ sRXUFeEDsed sROXtLRQs. The DwDUeQess hDs QRw SeQetUDted even to the lower levels of a company’s management teDP. CRPPeQtLQJ RQ the SRSXODULty RI RSeQ sRXUFe technologyI Banerjee saysI “I think we have moved past the time when open source was considered a burden. , hDve QeveU Pet D sLQJOe C(2 whR Ls ERtheUed DERXt teFhQRORJy. The UeDsRQ tR LPSOePeQt (53 Ls tR PDNe the business more profitable. So the users are more keen on knowing about the functionalities rather than the technology. In other wordsI I feel that in the current sRFLR-eFRQRPLF sFeQDULR, EeLQJ RSeQ sRXUFe-EDsed Ls an advantage that we enjoy.
“lpen source has definitely moved from the time wheQ Lts vDOXe wDs UeFRJQLsed RQOy Ey the ORQJ-hDLUed, URFN-ORvLQJ hDFNeUs. TRdDy, eveQ GDUtQeU Ls SUedLFtLQJ the exSRQeQtLDO JURwth RI RSeQ sRXUFe-EDsed EXsLQess applications globally. People have understood the simplicity or the flexibility that open source brings to its user. Some of our largest customers have actually moved from their renowned proprietary systems and opted for lpenbravo.”
BXt the URDd tR sXFFess wDs dLIILFXOt. WhLOe the company certainly enjoys the fruits of success todayI there were days when the team had a real challenging time trying to convince people about the basis of their solution. lpenbravo chose to stick to open sourceI maintaining its XQLqXe DttULEXtes. BDQeUMee UePePEeUs, “The URDd tR thLs sXFFess wDs QRt eDsy. ,Q the LQLtLDO dDys, DURXQd 2008OM1MI I faced some major challenges while proposing this open source solution. I remember someone asked me whether his system could get hacked by anyone if he used open source. I think the issue was a mindset problem. lpen source initially spread its wings in the form of UNIu. ThRse systePs weUe dLIILFXOt IRU QRQ-teFhLes tR Xse. , think not many open source companies felt the need to make the system user friendly. So obviouslyI there were sR PDQy Pyths DURXQd the teFhQRORJy. ThLs LssXe wDs weOO LdeQtLILed Ey ,sPDeO CLRUdLD, RXU FR-IRXQdeU, Dt D very early stage. So as a companyI we made a huge effort tR PDNe the SURdXFt sLPSOe tR Xse. TRdDy, RQe RI RXU Ney strengths is our simplicity.”
As far as India is concernedI apart from the enterprisesI even SMbs are showing great interest in open source technologyI in general. lpenbravo claims to have some of the cortune RMM companies from India as its customers. The (53 sROXtLRQ hDs sSUeDd Lts wLQJs tR seFtRUs OLNe UetDLO, PDQXIDFtXULQJ, dLstULEXtLRQ, tUDdLQJ DQd PDQy PRUe. The company has also entered some niche market spaces like hatcheriesI dairy productsI manufacturingI jewelleryI pharmaI retail and construction.
The Xse RI RSeQ sRXUFe teFhQRORJy LQ 2SeQEUDvR hDd resulted in some real good cost savings. Banerjee claimsI “The sROXtLRQ Ls five tLPes PRUe FRst-eIIeFtLve wheQ compared to similar proprietary boP solutions. lverallI the product offers you a lower cost of ownershipI thus increasing the olI to a great extent. lpenbravo also offers multiple deSORyPeQt RStLRQs sXFh Ds RQ the FORXd, RQ-dePDQd DQd RQ-SUePLses. The RQ-SUePLses deSORyPeQt Xses PLQLPXP UesRXUFes whLOe the RQ-dePDQd DQd FORXd deSORyPeQt RStLRQ brings a great saving on the overall pricing of the product.”