1. White Paper
Beyond Open Source Customizations
– “Platforming” Open Source
Shubham Nagar
Chief Executive Officer
InfoAxon Technologies Ltd.

2. White Paper
Beyond Open Source customizations – “Platforming”
Open Source
So you have downloaded the most famous open source software community version and here you are all excited with it. The
hype is built and vendors that can help support are searched frantically. If you have a brilliant IT team and hopefully you have
someone championing this within your business. However what are your chances of success? What will this evangelism lead to?
Businesses do not react to technology trends as individuals do. Every business therefore looking to implement open source will
want an assurance, coverage of risks and potentially not compromise with any lack of functionality provided by the open source
software.
How then the open source innovation can be ushered in within an enterprise? Is it worth attention?
The basic premise of this article is whether for organizations adopting open source customizing the open source software is
enough or whether there is a need to look beyond and do simple things and appreciate simple process and solution approaches
that are part of any IT solution. For success to be achieved with open source one has to go beyond the realms of being able to
play with the source code and ensure that the overall solution has been put in place.
We now detail further what it means to go beyond Open Source customization.
Open Source Customization – The simple story
The typical story of open source within an enterprise follows many times this flow:
 You download the software or more than one open source solutions.
 You open them up and install and configure.
 You get excited and run down to your IT manager suggesting what a great alternative it can become.
 You get some small budget sanctioned to implement the project. You look for the easiest target that will subject to your nice
ideas around open source project.
 The scape (or scope) goat is ready and you implement the project and show case this after prodding through community
and finding your answers and eventually getting some sort of the system up there.
Now the trouble begins:
 Users use it and want more; where are the features that the world is talking about now? Support vendor for open
 You want to give more so you hunt for more. There is either an option of developing it all source software can give
yourself or finding some new smart plugins better interaction and
 You end up with performance problems or scaling issues and look for a consultant understanding but will your
 You then get some good minds together and ensure that solve the problem for now; But it software become
reappears in a different form and you customize further institutionalized like any
 Ultimately you have your own fork, your own patch work of open source code which only good piece of software
you will touch and not even the open source vendor that provided the software in the first does. How best then to
place through the community. depend on open source for
 You quit your job and then someone either takes it over or the entire implementation your organization.
stagnates
 The system is never fully adopted within your business and ultimately fails
www.infoaxon.com

3. White Paper
Platforms Vs Applications
Open source has “commoditized” the applications market. One after the other we find It is also becoming clearer
several open source alternatives going stronger and stronger. However this trend
that organizations need to
appears something refreshingly new the fact remains that most software has been
built as applications till date and its simply getting “freer” and “open” to develop. We think of their IT strategy as
are seeing a mega trend towards commoditization of standard applications. “Platforms” since
applications and products
Amidst this the software industry is growing at an amazing speed and churning out come and go but having a
software products or SaaS enabled services one after the other. Moreover the value “Platform” at the centre of
of IT is shifting increasingly towards services and solutions instead of the core business operations within a
product technology often locked with the product itself.
particular domain will help
faster development of
Some areas where this strategy has shown particular use are:
services
 Content Management
 Collaborative document management with integrated web front end portals
 Social Network based Corporate Intranets that host multiple user applications
 Vertical SaaS (Software as a service) solutions
 Business Intelligence and Dashboards
 E-Commerce platforms
The good news is that Open source can be used to build the right platforms as the basis to integrate other open source
applications.
Therefore here is the healthy balance. Platforms can be built using open source and integrating them well and for platforms to
succeed innovative applications that are either already open source or integrate with other open source can lead to a very
interesting model indeed.
One of the ways this has started to happen is by developing Vertical market or organization specific platforms using open source
by integrating as a matter of practice. “Platforming” is such a practice.
www.infoaxon.com

4. White Paper
What is “Platforming”?
“Platforming” Open source is akin to creation of an open source eco system within a business Not many realize that
domain leading to a launch pad for new services exposed to customers, employees, or amazing number of popular
associates. brands such as Facebook,
Twitter and several others
With Platforming of open source it is possible to implement open source more aligned to the have been built brick by
business goals instead of driven as a technology project. Using the right system integrator brick in this manner. They
partner that understands Platforming it is possible to bring together open source components don‟t tell you but this is
in such a way that innovative software as a service models are possible within the enterprises.
exactly what they have
In particular service providers (for e.g. SaaS service providers, Cloud service providers)
benefit greatly from this approach. done with superb piece of
engineering thrown behind
With Platforming it is possible to standardize interface and boundaries, use less resource and it.
have testable architectures that can be used to develop innovative domain specific solutions.
Power of coming together – “Platforming” Open Source
Open source choices have to “come together” in such a way that it can take the shape of a
Carefully chosen best-of-
lasting IT Platform within your business and even when the first phase of adoption is over
breed open source
(mainly ruled by hype) it actually sticks and is used by all.
components based on
many different criteria:
This is not easy but increasingly to implement open source is the right way. maturity, readiness for
production, features,
Typically if you want to use open source at an IT strategy level you would find that open extensibility, quality,
source itself requires integration with other open source software. Just to set the context here adoption and the
that we are talking of open source implementations that are up the stack and not really at the strength of their
operating system or database level. We are talking about applications here since most communities can help
business opportunities that exist today are up the stack or with open source within a cloud. not only pick up the right
ingredients but also
bring them together.
www.infoaxon.com

5. About InfoAxon Technologies
InfoAxon is a leading provider of enterprise services and business
solutions powered by open source. We design, architect and support
complete “Enterprise Solution Platforms” using Open Standards, Web 2.0
next generation technologies and Open Source Frameworks providing
end-to-end solutions to business problems.
India‟s First Global Open Source Integration Company
We are India's First Global Open Source Integration Company providing
business solutions in areas of Content & Knowledge Management,
Web2.0 Collaboration and Business Intelligence powered by our
unique open source „Platforming‟ expertise.
INDIA OFFICE: UK OFFICE:
InfoAxon Technologies Ltd. InfoAxon Technologies UK Ltd.
H-189, Sector-63, Building A, Trinity Court,
Electronic City, Wokingham Road,
NODIA-201307, U.P Bracknell, Berkshire RG42 1PL,
India United Kingdom
Phone: +91 120 4350040, Phone: +44 1344 668048,
Fax: + 91 120 4350065 Fax: +44 1344 668148
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