SPOKANE, Wash. — Credit unions can save a bundle by running open source software instead of proprietary software-with no additional support costs or security risks.
That's according to Chris Hyde, VP-IT at Numerica CU here, who said the $940-million CU saves up to $60,000 per year in licensing fees by using OpenOffice, a completely free version of office productivity software. Tellers and member service representatives have used OpenOffice for three years, instead of the prevailing Microsoft Office suite. A conservative calculation of the savings: about $36,000 total per year for 200 Numerica desktops under Microsoft's Enterprise Agreement, or about $57,000 total per year under the Software Assurance program, he said.
"From a cost standpoint, open source is pretty compelling, and most people won't notice the difference in features," Hyde said. A credit union would come out ahead even if it chooses to add on annual support fees for the free software, he said.
There's an open source version of just about any business application a CU could want, he continued. Numerica has used open source software to run its website for six years; data mart for four years; IT wiki for five years; and an "assortment" of other applications throughout the enterprise, said Hyde.
Moving to an Open Platform
Hyde said he soon hopes to replace the CU's Hyperion business intelligence (BI) software with an open platform. Hyperion-which is getting "long in the tooth" - could cost about $7,000 per developer license and $1,200 per analyst, he said. Jaspersoft and Pentaho are in the running as suitable BI replacements for Numerica, said Hyde. Another big expense is Microsoft's Exchange Server - but converting to an open-source e-mail server would be "pretty scary to bite off," Hyde said.
Numerica's website is built on the open LAMP environment - a Linux operating system, Apache Web server, MySQL database software and PHP Web scripting language.
No Security/Support Concerns
Security and support concerns for open source software are "nil," Hyde continued. In fact, sometimes security patches from the open source community are delivered in a more timely manner than those provided by software proprietors, he said.
Security may be easier to maintain with open software because hackers have less to gain by tampering with the relatively small open source community. "There haven't really been a lot of big security issues with OpenOffice," said Hyde.
Support usually revolves around getting users accustomed to the differences in the open software, he said. For example, although the file menus in OpenOffice and Microsoft Office are similar, users need to learn how to save all files for easy readability in any office productivity software. Open source doesn't mean you pay more in employee costs: Numerica has to hire technical specialists to support all of its software, open or not, said Hyde.
Open software requires the same due diligence you'd pay any technology, Hyde said. "Open source will always come in at a lower price, but compare what you get and see if it meets your needs."
Any CU could bring open software into the infrastructure, he added. "You can download the installer and burn it to a CD along with any plug-ins. As long as it's inward-facing, the defaults should be fine, but anything outward-facing should probably be professionally configured-which goes for Microsoft products, as well."
If you can run the basic software free for any purpose, adapt it to your needs, redistribute copies to someone else and collaborate with a user community to improve it, then the software is considered open source, explained Hyde.
