8 Ways to Make Open Source Software Work for your Business
October 26, 2016
Irish Businesses have grown used to the benefits of Open Source Software for their web presence There’s no disputing that it has dramatically reduced the cost, and increased the ease with which complex e-commerce applications can be deployed. But deployment is just the start. O’KellySutton have been helping Irish Businesses to use Open Source Software for over 12 years now. Read our tips and become an Open Source Ninja!
- Select WordPress. With 70% and growing of the CMS market share, it offers the most template and plugin choice. It has seen steady market share growth, and O’KellySutton predict it will continue to be the dominant platform, and will continue to gain market share in the future.
- Manage Security Proactively. The install of the software is just the beginning. Since the application is facing the Web, this is different to installing something at home, or in the office. It needs to have the security managed pro-actively. Many ‘web developers’ don’t do this, and too often, security is reactive. Be proactive.
- Update the software. Bugs are discovered in releases of software, new releases are made correcting it, automated scanning tools scan for the vulnerable, and those sites are hacked. So don’t expose your site: update and patch your open source software, and avoid being picked off by hackers.
- Not all hosting is created equal.There has been a proliferation of cheap hosting services, and these work by sharing a vast number of URLs on one address. This has implications for site speed, reputation and availability. These in turn impact on traffic levels and profitability. Choose your hosting wisely.
- Be conservative with plugins. They slow your site down and each one comes with its own security risk profile, and requires updating.
- Choose your design template carefully, and preserve any modifications in a ‘child template’ to allow the master template to be updated.
- Don’t break the UX (user experience). Templates are more than just how they look in an exec’s browser, and clumsy modification can disturb the user experience on other platforms. Select a theme you like and keep within the parameters for modifing it. It’ll be cheaper in the end.
- Plugins and services can be altered or discontinued. Be very careful about relying or building on them for critical business functionality. Where you provide part of your company’s USP online, it can be better to own that application.
Do you use Open Source? O’KellySutton provide a managed service for clients that wish to operate Open Source software, or to develop hybrid open source – propriety solutions, for mission critical applications. Contact us to know more.
