Power of Enterprise Open Source

Aleksander Farstad, the CEO of eZ systems, argues in this article that combining Enterprise and Open Source approaches is of high value to customers, partner companies, and developers. They benefit from the freedom of Open Source as well as the responsibility taken on by a company. Learn here what you get from combining the best of both worlds.

The Best of Both Worlds

When combining the terms Enterprise and Open Source, some people might argue that these terms do not go together, that they are even contradictory.

Enterprise is a word widely used by software companies to describe high-quality product and service offers. By using this term, they imply that they deliver robust software and provide excellent services to enterprise customers. Quite the opposite, some people think of Open Source software as a software of lower quality compared to enterprise software.

This false perception is grounded in a wrong understanding of the word free in Free Software: Open Source rejecters think that software you can get for free is not worth anything. They do not understand that it is more about the freedom you enjoy while making use of the software, instead of the no-cost argument when obtaining it.

As all Free Software fans know, there are strong arguments against this and there are many examples of excellent Open Source software projects. Thus, the Open Source approach can very well be combined with the expectations coming from enterprise customers. By taking the best of both worlds, the Enterprise and Open Source approach, eZ systems has established a viable and successful business.

Freedom and Responsibility

The power of Enterprise Open Source originates from the combination of freedom and responsibility.

The customers of eZ systems enjoy the freedom they have to either help themselves or be free to ask anyone else for help. This freedom is only possible because they have free access to the source code.

Our customers also enjoy the responsibility that eZ systems takes, being a reliable partner for anyone who needs assistance during any phase of a project. This kind of reliability is mainly possible because eZ systems is a company, ready to deliver when being paid.

At eZ systems, we have adopted the term Enterprise to both our business model as well as our products. Let's take a look at both aspects now.