Open Source Technology

High quality software tailored to the user community

Because the core code of open source software is readily accessible to the public and open source projects encourage user participation, there are more checks on software quality and software development tends to go in the direction that the software's users specify.

Lower software costs

Open source software is low or no cost since open source solutions generally do not require licensing fees and by extension no or few maintenance fees. The main expenditures for open source solutions include optional media, documentation and support fees.

Simplified license management

Open source licensing is very flexible. With open source software you acquire the software once and then can install it as many times and in as many locations as you need. There's no need to count or monitor the number of installations for license compliance.

Potentially lower hardware costs

With open source applications that run on efficient open source solutions such as Linux (as do all of OpenEngagement's products) you need to provide less hardware power to accomplish the same tasks as on conventional servers (e.g. Microsoft Windows, Solaris) or workstations. This means that the open source applications let you get by with less expensive or older hardware.

Ample support and documentation

The support available for open source products is often superior to that available for proprietary software, since the companies that produce open source products (that are free of charge for you to download) focus on providing multiple levels of high-quality paid support.

Focus on collaboration and user input

You benefit from open source's concentration on collaboration and user input as you and others in your field have a chance to directly influence the development of the software, tailoring it to your needs. Most users find this kind of software democracy empowering.

Cost-effective, content management software solutions

OpenEngagement can offer you extremely cost-effective content management software solutions because our software is always free to download. You choose whether you want to buy our hosted solution and/or customer support services.

Simple GPL (General Public License)

OpenEngagement's GPL allows you the freedom to decide how you use the software and to become involved with the project if you wish.

Excellent customer support and product documentation

We provide a range of excellent customer support services and have made all product documentation readily available to you.

Customer-focused software and business solutions

Open source software is inherently customer and community-focused and OpenEngagement is no exception. Which means that the separation between developers and users is much smaller with OpenEngagement than it is with proprietary software.

Of course, this doesn't mean that you have to write software code, but it does mean that the lines of communication between OpenEngagement and its users are more open.
Since our goal is to help you do your work with more ease, we are always interested in your innovations and suggestions for OpenEngagement's software.

Plus, as part of our community focus, we offer you the option of contributing to and benefiting from our Best Practices and Smart Content and Community of Practice.

Software that can be quickly improved in response to your suggestions and feedback

Because OpenEngagement uses the efficient PostGRES open source database, issues can be fixed within days instead of the months normally seen with proprietary software, so you benefit from constantly improved software.