[asterisk-biz] case study on switching to Asterisk

Wed Mar 21 15:21:38 MST 2007

I am definitely an advocate for Open Source, I really like the flexibility it gives and also the possibilities it opens up. I've been a Linux user for several years, and as a result I tend to avoid "proprietary solutions" for my own usage.I do have a hypothesis that the open source solution will prove to be cheaper, and the open source "patriot" (I don't like that term..) in me would like to see that so. I also believe its competitive from a feature set point of view. I've used systems deploying SVN and Trac, that can rival most code revisioning systems out there. These arguments probably aren't helping my point, but let me explain why I think the paper should be a fair comparison... Hopefully my "newness" to telephone systems will make me less biased as I don't have a good sense of what they cost, and so don't have any preconceived notions. As well, the paper is focusing on a company already using a proprietary system and the cost of switching to an open source one and whether it will save money while providing the same level of service and support. If I can't find similar levels of support than this will be stated in the paper. If the open source version presents certain "risks" I won't hide that either. I'd like to say that I'm trying to go in without these preconceived notions you mention and I want to represent my cost findings as unbiased as possible. However, I will be keeping it relatively mathematical, analyzing a made up situation, where a small company is using a proprietary solution and whether jumping to opensource makes sense from a cost perspective. For a small company especially, the customization and feature set may not be a huge selling point, which they would have to factor in. I think often safe and reliable is a huge consideration and its hard to determine sometimes if open source is reliable. With Asterisk, it seems there are plenty of deployments that show it is a mature product and can be deployed in many different situations. But ti still doesn't have the name "Cisco" or "Nortel" behind it, which is safe (I think?) and sometimes thats more important. I want to approach this from a cost perspective but I will be placing such considerations as you mentioned in my conclusion in case anyone
wants to use the paper as a jumping point to evaluate an open source
solution. They are definitely critical factors in making this type of decision.Open source is great and good by the way! But its not for everyone. I use Linux as a desktop solution, but I certainly don't think its ready for most people to switch over to. And as for the quote about Nortel and Cisco help, I have since contacted Nortel and Telus, and if they provide help, I'll be sure to mention it on the mailing list. I hope if you do read the paper you'll see it isn't FSF propaganda wrapped in a university term paper.Thanks for the comments!ByronDate: Wed, 21 Mar 2007 12:30:17 -0700From: faxguy at howardsilvan.comTo: asterisk-biz at lists.digium.comSubject: Re: [asterisk-biz] case study on switching to Asterisk

Byron Pile wrote:

  The replies have been great. I'm
curious what the reponse would be if I asked Nortel or Cisco for help
in comparing their options to an opensource one :) .

Just some thoughts... so these are not meant to dissuade you from your
effort.

You appear to have some preconceived conclusions about what your
research will illustrate.  I think that having an initial hypothesis is
to be considered normal.  However, as I read your posts I sense an
above-normal level of open-source patriotism that would turn me off if
I were to pick up on it in reading your research paper and looking for
some credible conclusions.

Although *I* have the opinion that, in general, open-source
applications will be less expensive and better for the consumer in the
long-run, I certainly am willing to entertain that my opinion is merely
an opinion and that others may see things differently.

For example, if I were to sit down and read your research paper I would
certainly hope to find case studies from multiple perspectives.  I
would want to read about cases where the open source solution was
chosen as well as cases where it was deliberately not chosen... and I'd
want to get a sense of understanding as to why those decisions were
made the way that they were.  Merely adding up price tags and turning
the research into a math equation tells a very narrow story.  Some
businesses will decide against an open-source solution despite the
price differences.  The interesting question is why.

If I were to read a paper that essentially said, "Open source is great
and good.  It saves the users money and can often have more features."
without considering the cases where the open source solutions are
deliberately decided against.  Well, I would probably stop reading it
as soon as I got the impression that's where the paper was going. 

What I would be looking for in a paper like that would be an
understanding of *why* businesses are making decisions either for *or*
against open source software solutions.  And then (and only then) am I
willfully going to entertain reading further on to where I anticipate
hearing you express your research-based opinions or conclusions about
the research material.

Given your subject matter, you may be interested in reading The Magic
Cauldron by Eric S. Raymond (google it, and you'll find it as well as
some arguments against it).  It's not entirely in-line with what you're
discussing, and he is by no means an unbiased voice, but it probably
will offer you some useful ideas and information.

Lee.

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