Alternatives to commercial licensing.
WHAT EXISTS
Full enterprise suites Accounting systems Customer relationship systems Human resource systems Point of sale and retail
WHAT THEY PROVIDE
No licence cost Source code available Freedom to modify No vendor lock-in on the software itself
WHAT THEY COST
Implementation, which is not free Hosting and operation Support, if purchased Skills to maintain
WHY THAT MATTERS
Free software is not a free system.
WHAT THE SUPPORT MODEL USUALLY IS
Community support, with commercial support available from partners.
WHAT TO ASSESS
Whether local implementation partners exist Whether the project is actively maintained How many organisations use it in production Documentation quality
WHY LOCAL PARTNERS MATTER
Implementation requires people who understand both the software and your context.
WHAT LOCALISATION TO CHECK
Tax handling Statutory reporting Currency and formats Payroll rules
WHY THAT MATTERS MOST HERE
Systems built elsewhere frequently do not handle local statutory requirements.
WHAT TO VERIFY
That someone has actually run it here, for your kind of business.
WHAT TO AVOID
Adopting something nobody nearby can support.
