Thomas Loran

There is a growing trend of open source-based applications running mainstream business-critical applications. Part of this is due to the availability of new solutions software that, when added to the open source application stack, greatly expands the overall reliability and scalability of the resulting applications, allowing them to be "enterprise class." TCO. That simple three-letter acronym is widely used and also widely misused. It's not the initial key driver for critical business purchases even if some vendors would like you to think that it is. Let's consider the issue in more detail. Linux is often cited as a lower-cost alternative to proprietary systems. The lower TCO is a result of lower software licensing costs combined with commoditized and inexpensive hardware. But there's more to TCO than that. You are a manager who needs to evaluate and purchase the nee... (more)