Traditional ECM licensing models, with expensive up front enterprise licenses and complex per user pricing, has restricted the successful adoption and roll out of traditional ECM solution. This has resulted in a rise in the popularity of Open Source solutions, as companies look for ways to reduce costs without sacrificing functionality.
When evaluation the TCO of deploying any enterprise software solution companies need to take into account a number of related costs:
- True Enterprise License Costs – Many start with a small trial project without understanding true enterprise roll out costs
- Support Costs – Most are based on enterprise license costs (i.e. 22% of list price)
- Deployment Costs – The cost of deploying the application, what consulting services are needed?
- Supporting Technology – The application will need a host of support infrastructure, companies need to establish the additional cost of any software and hardware needed to roll out the application
- Exit Costs – Often an underestimated cost. But what is the cost of changing solution should the need arise
The Alfresco white paper ‘Total Cost of Ownership for Enterprise Content Management’ explores each of these costs. Using publically available pricing information it demonstrates that an Open Source ECM solution is a fraction of the cost of traditional ECM.
Bottom Line: Companies are increasing user adoption and reducing costs by deploying Alfresco – The leading Open Source content management solution.
