Open Source vs. Proprietary Solutions: How To Not Lose
What is the most difficult, choosing from several options? Often, the options belong to one of two camps — open source and proprietary. Which one is best for your business?
Open source or proprietary cloud — which one works best for enterprises? Both cloud services aim to provide end-users with products or software solutions.
Considering the opportunity in cloud service backed by a tech giant with a wide array of embedded options, enterprises should prepare for some nuances at work. In contrast, many others prefer the flexibility and customization achieved with open-source-based solutions.
So, which one is best for your business?
For enterprises aiming to choose the right decision through two models, here are the parameters to pay attention to in the open-source versus proprietary environment debate.
Why Open Source?
When people think of open-source and proprietary models of cloud solutions, it’s a similar idea to would they use Windows or Linux? There is no doubt lots of flexibility that comes from cloud solutions based on open source technologies, and it is making strides in becoming a solid player in the cloud space. An open-source cloud platform’ brings the benefits of OpenStack, which has invested heavily in creating a stable platform for business.
Now that we stated the benefits of open code clouds, the next question is why an open-source cloud platform is a better option than a proprietary cloud platform.
Cost-Saving Approach
Among enterprises using the cloud, the biggest concern is managing costs. According to the O’Reilly survey, for 30% of respondents saving costs is the challenge. The most obvious answer is that the licenses of proprietary solutions always involve higher price tags.
Source Code Modifications
Inability to adopt cloud solutions according to the needs and preferences of the enterprises could be a challenge not only to the technical team but also for a business as a whole.
Proprietary cloud products don’t allow any changes to their source code. This is advantageous for companies who want to keep their service static, without any modifications for longer times. Only the product owner can make source code changes if need be. Open source cloud products allow for changes to the source code and result in higher flexibility. If a new feature needs to be added to the open-source product for smoother functionality, it can be done with the help of a development team quickly.
Open for Security
Because the source code is open, it is readily available for review. This can be very beneficial from a security standpoint. That means security specialists can study and scrutinize the code and identify any potential vulnerability that may be present. Invariable communication between technical communities drives technology solution improvement.
Open Source Easy To Migrate
The migration process to the new cloud using proprietary solutions may become a much lengthier and ‘painful’ process. In this case, we should mention the concern of lock-ins vendors. The term means that the product used with a proprietary vendor cannot be taken or used through another vendor. Knowledge transfer among competitive companies is considered taboo, and the process of creation should start from the early beginning. Whereas cloud systems based on open source solutions allow changes of vendors easily, looking for the most appropriate solution.
Open Source or Proprietary: what is the market choice?
Ok, so we now know significant differences between open source and proprietary solutions. What has been the global market choice? According to Statista, OpenStack is the most popular open-source cloud platform, and its adoption has grown steadily in recent years. As of 2020, 30% of survey respondents confirmed that they are using OpenStack in production. On the other hand, as we can see, indicators of customer demand for proprietary solutions slowly and inevitably go down.
Source: www.statista.com
Since 2010 OpenStack has become one of the most active open-source projects globally, supported by a vibrant and engaged global community. The OpenStack cloud system operators and developers community continually strive to keep up with the times. The theme of client data sovereignty in the cloud environment is not just a fashionable trend but is the goal. It aims to protect sensitive, private data and ensure it remains under its owner’s control.
Anyway, Openstack gained the trust of the mostly European market not by chance.
Source: www.openstack.com
Current political, economic, and social trends impacted the typology of customer consumption in European society. The European market is oriented at the products of local cloud solutions to localize data on internal hardware. Many credit it with information leaks from the USA. The US government collected the data not only from US citizens but also from foreign nationals. Remarkably, the US government has the authority to access the data stored within its territory regardless of the data’s origins. And no one wants their data used in this way.
On the other hand, let’s return to the economic aspects. Don’t forget, demand for the local product consumption allows to reduce of end-customer price, supports the internal economy, and has the potential to generate employment.
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Sardina Systems is a software vendor and SaaS provider that offers cloud management solutions for wide varieties of industries: Telecom, Finance, Research & Science, Health Care, and many others. Its brainchild FishOS solution is an open-source product built on OpenStack that can be deployed in multiple data center locations based on local regulatory requirements within the EU countries.
Built on the backbone of the world’s leading enterprise OpenStack, FishOS is designed to help the drive towards cloud systems transformation and adoption of OpenStack containers by bringing together FishIO Platform, the company’s enterprise-grade container application platform, with massively scalable infrastructure provided by FishOS based on OpenStack technologies.
If you still have questions contact our team.
