 | Customer is in control. The Internet enables the application to be developed under the design control of multiple
collaborating customers. |
| The customer can extensively test the application for its fit to his business before making any extensive and
expensive commitment to it. |
| High quality applications – massive peer review assures reliability and security. |
| Open and widespread standards – there are no secrets in open source software. |
| Wide source for developers - It takes advantage of the Internet for worldwide collaboration and expertise. |
| High quality maintenance and customization service. Service is the only marketable product and the customer
chooses the provider of service. |
| Development and support costs are distributed among multiple companies. |
| No vendor lock in – lower implementation and switching costs. |
| Can evolve with the customer’s business no matter what happens to the original developer or developers. |
| Vendor is in control. The application is developed for the financial and business benefit of the vendor.
The customer is a means by which the vendor achieves these benefits. |
| Expensive to develop – industry averages are 10 to 15 lines of code per day per developer.
Total costs average out to about $50 per line of code. |
| Vendor Lock In – The customer is dependent upon the developer or ‘owner’ of the software for
enhancements and service. |
| Low reliability – Proprietary software is notoriously ‘buggy’. |
| Low functionality – Proprietary software is notoriously only ‘partially satisfactory’. |
| Low security – Few eyes see the code. Software ‘holes’ remained unfixed. |
| Duplicate efforts – For each business function there are numerous software packages developed by numerous
small pockets of independent developers. |
| Difficult to communicate or share data between systems. Standards, protocols, and algorithms are kept
secret as ‘intellectual property’. ‘Open’ standards are ‘closed’ by proprietary extensions for business
advantage. |
| Narrow source for developers. Vendors are dependent on their own ‘in-house’ expertise. |
| Package marketing - Competition is on the selling of a ‘package’. Service and enhancements, and
maintenance are considered necessary overheads. |
