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Trying to convince management that Open Source is a good thing

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Yves S. Garret

Trying to convince management that Open Source is a good thing

Sorry about this not being CakePHP specific, but rather something being tangentially related to CakePHP. However, in my organization, there is a serious issue with convincing management that Open Source is a good idea. As a result we are stuck with using Windows servers and _forced_ to use MSSQL.

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate Microsoft (I run Mac, Windows and Linux at home) or want to start a flamewar of some sort. However, I would like to know of some BUSINESS REASONS that I can use to sell to management that this is not only a good idea, but head and shoulders above our present way of going.

My reason for doing this is because it's so much easier to get updates, fixes and improvements than with a close source approach. Management is worried about support. I don't really care, I can admin my own box just fine. They want an approach that will cover their rear ends in case something bad happens (i.e. someone will come on-site and fix it for them). Is there consultant group that provides support and other such services in the Rhode Island area that we could tap into? I'd keep Windows around, but since we do most of our development on the web, it's kind of pointless to care too much what OS you're running.

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Yves S. Garret

Re: Trying to convince management that Open Source is a good thing

Also, what was your experience in a similar situation? How did you
handle it? We're a big organization with at least 20,000 people.

On Sep 27, 10:40 am, "Yves S. Garret" <[hidden email]>
wrote:

> Sorry about this not being CakePHP specific, but rather something being
> tangentially related to CakePHP. However, in my organization, there is a
> serious issue with convincing management that Open Source is a good idea.
> As a result we are stuck with using Windows servers and _forced_ to use
> MSSQL.
>
> Don't get me wrong, I don't hate Microsoft (I run Mac, Windows and Linux at
> home) or want to start a flamewar of some sort. However, I would like to
> know of some BUSINESS REASONS that I can use to sell to management that this
> is not only a good idea, but head and shoulders above our present way of
> going.
>
> My reason for doing this is because it's so much easier to get updates,
> fixes and improvements than with a close source approach. Management is
> worried about support. I don't really care, I can admin my own box just
> fine. They want an approach that will cover their rear ends in case
> something bad happens (i.e. someone will come on-site and fix it for them).
> Is there consultant group that provides support and other such services in
> the Rhode Island area that we could tap into? I'd keep Windows around, but
> since we do most of our development on the web, it's kind of pointless to
> care too much what OS you're running.

Flosky

Re: Trying to convince management that Open Source is a good thing

In reply to this post by Yves S. Garret

The only argument they will listen to (and should) is money!
Here are some points where they would save money with:

- No Licence costs
- Faster and easier developmnent process
- More secure environment

Thats it from me, but im sure there will be many more posts.
-flosky

"Yves S. Garret" <[hidden email]> schrieb:

Sorry about this not being CakePHP specific, but rather something being tangentially related to CakePHP. However, in my organization, there is a serious issue with convincing management that Open Source is a good idea. As a result we are stuck with using Windows servers and _forced_ to use MSSQL.

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate Microsoft (I run Mac, Windows and Linux at home) or want to start a flamewar of some sort. However, I would like to know of some BUSINESS REASONS that I can use to sell to management that this is not only a good idea, but head and shoulders above our present way of going.

My reason for doing this is because it's so much easier to get updates, fixes and improvements than with a close source approach. Management is worried about support. I don't really care, I can admin my own box just fine. They want an approach that will cover their rear ends in case something bad happens (i.e. someone will come on-site and fix it for them). Is there consultant group that provides support and other such services in the Rhode Island area that we could tap into? I'd keep Windows around, but since we do most of our development on the web, it's kind of pointless to care too much what OS you're running.

--
Our newest site for the community: CakePHP Video Tutorials http://tv.cakephp.org
Check out the new CakePHP Questions site http://ask.cakephp.org and help others with their CakePHP related questions.

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Thomas Ploch

Re: Trying to convince management that Open Source is a good thing

In reply to this post by Yves S. Garret

Well, in a company with 20.000 employees I can imagine that the License
fees for Windows Servers (there probably are a lot of them) and MSSQL
databases (There probably are a lot of them too) are pretty high. So my
main argument would be the financial savings in licensing costs (running
costs) that are by far greater then the cost to actually change the
IT-infrastructure (single investment) after X months (subject to
calculation). Those managers do not understand things like "faster
development processes" but they understand things like "We will save a
big pile of cash".

Kind regards
Thomas

Am Dienstag, den 27.09.2011, 07:52 -0700 schrieb Yves S. Garret:

> Also, what was your experience in a similar situation? How did you
> handle it? We're a big organization with at least 20,000 people.
>
> On Sep 27, 10:40 am, "Yves S. Garret" <[hidden email]>
> wrote:
> > Sorry about this not being CakePHP specific, but rather something being
> > tangentially related to CakePHP. However, in my organization, there is a
> > serious issue with convincing management that Open Source is a good idea.
> > As a result we are stuck with using Windows servers and _forced_ to use
> > MSSQL.
> >
> > Don't get me wrong, I don't hate Microsoft (I run Mac, Windows and Linux at
> > home) or want to start a flamewar of some sort. However, I would like to
> > know of some BUSINESS REASONS that I can use to sell to management that this
> > is not only a good idea, but head and shoulders above our present way of
> > going.
> >
> > My reason for doing this is because it's so much easier to get updates,
> > fixes and improvements than with a close source approach. Management is
> > worried about support. I don't really care, I can admin my own box just
> > fine. They want an approach that will cover their rear ends in case
> > something bad happens (i.e. someone will come on-site and fix it for them).
> > Is there consultant group that provides support and other such services in
> > the Rhode Island area that we could tap into? I'd keep Windows around, but
> > since we do most of our development on the web, it's kind of pointless to
> > care too much what OS you're running.
>

Zaky Katalan-Ezra

Re: Trying to convince management that Open Source is a good thing

Money is not an issue in such organizations.
Most of the licenses are all ready bought.
The fast response for new tasks is the main issue.
You get this fast response because there is tons of libraries and code out there that you can integrate into your solution.
Do it step by step:
First, suggest to implement cake on windows with MSSQL
For the support you have CakeDC.
Then try to change the database to mysql and finally maybe you convince some one to try Linux
Although I believe that In a 20K employees company you will find a Linux machine somewhere.
The development is faster in open source also because you don't need as a developer to ask for license for your tools.
When a new developer join the team it sometime take him more then a week to get vs2010 license.
And don't forget that Wikipedia and Facebook are based on PHP and Amazone uses Linux servers.
But you also take a chance that something will go wrong and you'll find yourself trying to convince your employer to use open source all over again, only this time it will be your new employer.

On Wed, Sep 28, 2011 at 8:33 AM, Thomas Ploch <[hidden email]> wrote:

Well, in a company with 20.000 employees I can imagine that the License
fees for Windows Servers (there probably are a lot of them) and MSSQL
databases (There probably are a lot of them too) are pretty high. So my
main argument would be the financial savings in licensing costs (running
costs) that are by far greater then the cost to actually change the
IT-infrastructure (single investment) after X months (subject to
calculation). Those managers do not understand things like "faster
development processes" but they understand things like "We will save a
big pile of cash".

Kind regards
Thomas

Am Dienstag, den 27.09.2011, 07:52 -0700 schrieb Yves S. Garret:
> Also, what was your experience in a similar situation? How did you
> handle it? We're a big organization with at least 20,000 people.
>
> On Sep 27, 10:40 am, "Yves S. Garret" <[hidden email]>
> wrote:
> > Sorry about this not being CakePHP specific, but rather something being
> > tangentially related to CakePHP. However, in my organization, there is a
> > serious issue with convincing management that Open Source is a good idea.
> > As a result we are stuck with using Windows servers and _forced_ to use
> > MSSQL.
> >
> > Don't get me wrong, I don't hate Microsoft (I run Mac, Windows and Linux at
> > home) or want to start a flamewar of some sort. However, I would like to
> > know of some BUSINESS REASONS that I can use to sell to management that this
> > is not only a good idea, but head and shoulders above our present way of
> > going.
> >
> > My reason for doing this is because it's so much easier to get updates,
> > fixes and improvements than with a close source approach. Management is
> > worried about support. I don't really care, I can admin my own box just
> > fine. They want an approach that will cover their rear ends in case
> > something bad happens (i.e. someone will come on-site and fix it for them).
> > Is there consultant group that provides support and other such services in
> > the Rhode Island area that we could tap into? I'd keep Windows around, but
> > since we do most of our development on the web, it's kind of pointless to
> > care too much what OS you're running.
>

--
Our newest site for the community: CakePHP Video Tutorials http://tv.cakephp.org
Check out the new CakePHP Questions site http://ask.cakephp.org and help others with their CakePHP related questions.

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mark_story

Re: Trying to convince management that Open Source is a good thing

In reply to this post by Yves S. Garret

Getting paid support is generally possible for most infrastructure
type open source projects.

- MySQL -> Pay oracle.
- Linux -> Pay Redhat or Canonical

For smaller non infrastructure type projects there is usually a
developer or affiliated company that is happy to take money and be on
a retainer in case something goes bad.

-Mark

On Sep 27, 10:40 am, "Yves S. Garret" <[hidden email]>
wrote: