Archive for July, 2009

Is Open Source the solution for everyone?

Friday, July 24th, 2009

Open Source Software can provide a huge advantage in initial investment costs on a website, as well as eliminating the recurring annual maintenance costs for this site.

What are the pitfalls of Open Source Software:

  • You need the expertise and experience to evaluate whether a solution has the backing of a team and community which will survive and thrive.
  • The ability to evaluate new releases and patches to determine whether, when and how to install them
  • The ability to identify and debug issues which may come up, as there is no one in the community being ‘paid’ to solve your problems.

Fortunately, these are all easy and straight forward activities for technologists experienced in Open Source software.  At Our Virtual CTO, we can handle all of these perceived ‘risks’, in a very low cost way for you.  You can get all of the benefits of the Open Source movement for your business, without having to become a technologist yourself.

Contact us to discuss how we can help.

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What is Open Source Software

Friday, July 24th, 2009

Open Source software has created a revolution in how technology can be acquired and used to improve your businesses bottom line. One ‘official’ definition is located here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source_software#Open_Source_Definition .

I would describe Open Source software as a movement. Developers organize and volunteer to create software products (websites for example) which can be used for free by the general public. ( There are limitations, but the overview is that it is free to download and use ) . The community of developers and users work together (usually) to create a list of bugs which need fixing and enhancements to the product. The larger the community (and by definition the more a product is used), the more likely that new, relevant features will be requested and built into a product in a reasonable time frame.

This creates a unique dynamic in the technology marketplace. Instead of having to purchase software and pay annual maintenance fees, products can be built with neither of these costs. This can be make a huge difference to the bottom line of any company.

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Cloud Computing – Make it work to your competitive advantage

Saturday, July 11th, 2009


Not too many years ago, well funded startups and established large companies had a distinct advantage on the Internet. One of the major advantages was the ability to run their own websites and all them to scale up quickly. The costs of running sites on the Internet was high – between the personnel required to keep the sites up 24×7x365, the physical costs of hardware – the servers, networking equipment and connectivity to the Internet itself, and of course the licensing costs associated with all of the equipment above. It wasn’t just the up front investment, but also the recurring personnel, maintainance and upgrade costs.

The cloud computing model has turned the tables completely. It is similar to a buying coop, with the fixed costs shared across many companies. Now, small and midsized companies have the ability to have a world class data center supporting their web sites for a low monthly fee. Most cloud models will allow you to quickly scale up or down your capacity (the number of users or transactions you need to support and process on a very short time frame – (sometimes in minutes). Compare this to companies which host themselves, where it takes months to scale up and most of the sunk costs involved can not be recaptured.

Is Cloud computing a good solution for you? If so, would you like someone to select the right bundle of services for you, so that you can focus on your business? Let’s talk about the pros and cons. Email us here

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