Commercial vs Open Source

I like to think of my company as being scrappy and resourceful. We love open source, looking to use it everywhere that makes sense. Up until 18 months ago we still had OpenOffice as the standard in the office, that was until the up-roar about incompatibility with MS Office documents became so loud that I caved and bought a license of MS Office for everyone. I wouldn’t say I’m an open source zealot, but I am a big proponent.

My strategy has always been to start with open source and they look to commercial software once the open source doesn’t work out. As an example, we’ve used open source firewall software in our office for several years now, but it’s no longer meeting our needs. We evaluated bringing in a consultant and paying him several thousand dollars to make the changes we desired vs buying an off-the-shelf firewall appliance. The commercial firewall is being installed next week.

My advice to entrepreneurs is to be scrappy with resources and to always evaluate open source solutions in addition to commercial systems (this from a guy who’s company makes and sells commercial software).