Question

A sales related system was developed by a local company to satisfy and to be configured based on customers requirements. For example:

1. Customer A would like to buy the system, but he needs 2 additional configuration to be developed.
2. Customer B would like to buy the system, but needs 4 additional configuration to be developed and 2 functionalities to be removed.
3. Customer C would like partially to by the system if some changes done in the inventory subsystem.

based on the 3 scenarios above, do you think it is a good idea for the company to make its system as an open source?

Answer 1

Ans: -

If a sales related system is to be developed by a local company to satisfy and to be configured based on customers’ basic requirements then to make that system software an open source software is a good practice that should be performed. Because the best thing of an open source software is that it is freely available and accessible to everyone. Open source softwares are provided by the different companies and provider which are programmed by themselves. Providing an open source software can help in the faster growth of the company.

Open source software can be accessible to wide range of users which helps in the proper development of the software and further enhancements on regular basis by getting the feedback from the users. Bug finding process becomes easy in this case because an option for reporting a bug is provided in these types of softwares. So, the vendors of the softwares who have access to source code of software can fix the different bug reported by the users to make the system software more user friendly and interactive. User Interface can also be modified and enhanced by getting opinions and feedbacks from the customers.

So, making a system software an open source software provides many opportunities and facilities for the efficient development of that software.

Let’s discuss about the different scenarios given in the above problem and some advantages of making a sales related software an open sources software.

1. Customer A would like to buy the system, but he needs 2 additional configurations to be developed.

In the commercial softwares the feature extension of the softwares is dependent on the manufacturer or the provider of the software. The customer has to pay extra charges for the additional configurations apart from the configurations that are inbuilt in the software. In case of the open source software the users can suggest to add the additional configurations to the system software.

Also, the open source softwares includes lesser hardware and software costs because hardware power can be efficiently used on the different devices to access the open source softwares.

2. Customer B would like to buy the system, but needs 4 additional configurations to be developed and 2 functionalities to be removed.

Open source software uses the common information model and common interface model which helps in effective management of the software. If any customer wants additional configurations and removal of functionalities then it also becomes easy to do. User can create his own preferences regarding the use of any functionality and removal of the functionality. User can ask the provider to add or remove functionalities in his account. Individual adaption of the various features and functionalities is the feature of the open source software.

3. Customer C would like partially to buy the system if some changes done in the inventory subsystem.

Every feature and configuration of any open source software is available to anyone. So, the Customer C can use the different functionalities of the software which has been added by the different users for their convenience. So, the open source software will be a very good idea for a company while developing a sales related software for local businesses. Open source software includes the faster development and enhancement of the software, feedbacks from the users, creation of different functionalities and features etc.

Thus, considering the above 3 scenarios an open source software will be an effective method for the sales management software for the local company.