There is a fundamental perspective that underlies the value of open source to businesses—information technology (IT) should support, not hinder business objectives.

When a commercial software company puts profits, investors, a few important customers and upgrades ahead of the quality of software, most customers will get “good enough”. They will have to put up with marketing hype, computer crashes, more-or-less mandatory upgrades, and the sense that technology is out of control. Below are some of the reasons VAULT is part of the open source community and why the people of VAULT believe that all businesses deserve to use open source software. David Wheeler’s paper “Why Open Source Software? Look at the Numbers!” provides statistics to support the benefits of open source software. Where appropriate, links to his work are shown on the following pages.

Ability to respond to change/scalability

Software quality

Security

Avoid lock-in

Reduce cost

Innovation

Technical support

Large companies and techies have ready access to the technical resources (in-house, outside consultants, forums) needed to implement and maintain open source software. These types of resources are not easily available for smaller businesses. Local computer stores serving smaller businesses do not have the technical expertise necessary to support open source technologies.

The people of VAULT are committed to making it possible for all businesses to enjoy the benefits of open source software.