jeff frey from rice university talks open source technology for non-profits
DESCRIPTION
The April meeting of the Houston Netsquared featured guest speaker Jeff D. Frey from Rice University. Jeff shared the pros and cons of open source technology for nonprofits plus gave some recommendations to open source software, including Tendenci the open source CMS for nonprofit websites.TRANSCRIPT
Open Source...and Six Blind MenJeff Frey, Rice UniversityRice Universityʼs three-part mission of “path-breaking research, unsurpassed teaching, and contribution to the betterment of our world” is carried out in many different ways by many different people.
Information technology is an integral part of carrying out that mission, and Open Source products have been strategically leveraged to meet stakeholdersʻ unique needs. In this talk, youʼll hear about some Open Source products and how they can be leveraged by non-profits through the eyes of six different constituent groups.
Community
the people or following
surrounding a certain free or open source
product is usually a tight
knit group
Customers
individuals and other
organizations which the nonprofit
services is affected by
the products
Management
boards, executive
directors, and higher level
decision makers have to know what
to do
Employees
people working for
the nonprofit, including
volunteers, utilize the
open source products daily
Developers
open source products, by definition, are
works in progress; people are needed to
make updates
Support Staff
sometimes internal to the
nonprofit, these are
either designated people or
power users
!"#$%&'()*#%+%,%-#)."#*/0#.
“Copyright Jeffrey Daniel Frey, 2012.” Permission granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided the copyright and author contact appears. To disseminate otherwise, to republish, or sell materials requires written permission. Contact [email protected].
!"#$%&'()*#%+%,%-#)."#*/0#.
“Copyright Jeffrey Daniel Frey, 2012.” Permission granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided the copyright and author contact appears. To disseminate otherwise, to republish, or sell materials requires written permission. Contact [email protected].
Community
the people or following
surrounding a certain free or open source
product is usually a tight
knit group
Reap the benefits of the entire user base...! Constructive group-think! Functions / features you need! Even what you didnʼt know you needed! Typically active feedback mechanisms! The community drives the future
direction of the software / system
The ideology is a great match for nonprofits, controlled by the people it serves, the project is “open”
Are features similar to other products
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“Copyright Jeffrey Daniel Frey, 2012.” Permission granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided the copyright and author contact appears. To disseminate otherwise, to republish, or sell materials requires written permission. Contact [email protected].
Community
the people or following
surrounding a certain free or open source
product is usually a tight
knit groupproprietary vs. open source vs.
software as a service
!"#$%&'()*#%+%,%-#)."#*/0#.
“Copyright Jeffrey Daniel Frey, 2012.” Permission granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided the copyright and author contact appears. To disseminate otherwise, to republish, or sell materials requires written permission. Contact [email protected].
Community
the people or following
surrounding a certain free or open source
product is usually a tight
knit groupproprietary vs. open source vs.
software as a service
!"#$%&'()*#%+%,%-#)."#*/0#.
“Copyright Jeffrey Daniel Frey, 2012.” Permission granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided the copyright and author contact appears. To disseminate otherwise, to republish, or sell materials requires written permission. Contact [email protected].
Community
the people or following
surrounding a certain free or open source
product is usually a tight
knit groupproprietary vs. open source vs.
software as a service
Community
the people or following
surrounding a certain free or open source
product is usually a tight
knit group
Customers
individuals and other
organizations which the nonprofit
services is affected by
the products
Management
boards, executive
directors, and higher level
decision makers have to know what
to do
Employees
people working for
the nonprofit, including
volunteers, utilize the
open source products daily
Developers
open source products, by definition, are
works in progress; people are needed to
make updates
Support Staff
sometimes internal to the
nonprofit, these are
either designated people or
power users
!"#$%&'()*#%+%,%-#)."#*/0#.
“Copyright Jeffrey Daniel Frey, 2012.” Permission granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided the copyright and author contact appears. To disseminate otherwise, to republish, or sell materials requires written permission. Contact [email protected].
Customers
individuals and other
organizations which the nonprofit
services is affected by
the products
Looks really high end...! Improved stability! No compatibility issues! Acts and feels normal! Seeks and implements feedback! No different as far as they know
Is it different from established/known products
!"#$%&'()*#%+%,%-#)."#*/0#.
“Copyright Jeffrey Daniel Frey, 2012.” Permission granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided the copyright and author contact appears. To disseminate otherwise, to republish, or sell materials requires written permission. Contact [email protected].
Customers
individuals and other
organizations which the nonprofit
services is affected by
the products
!"#$%&'()*#%+%,%-#)."#*/0#.
“Copyright Jeffrey Daniel Frey, 2012.” Permission granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided the copyright and author contact appears. To disseminate otherwise, to republish, or sell materials requires written permission. Contact [email protected].
basic office suites available via online & downloadfast, full featured, and cross platform compatibility
Customers
individuals and other
organizations which the nonprofit
services is affected by
the products
!"#$%&'()*#%+%,%-#)."#*/0#.
“Copyright Jeffrey Daniel Frey, 2012.” Permission granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided the copyright and author contact appears. To disseminate otherwise, to republish, or sell materials requires written permission. Contact [email protected].
basic office suites available via online & downloadfast, full featured, and cross platform compatibility
Customers
individuals and other
organizations which the nonprofit
services is affected by
the products
!"#$%&'()*#%+%,%-#)."#*/0#.
“Copyright Jeffrey Daniel Frey, 2012.” Permission granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided the copyright and author contact appears. To disseminate otherwise, to republish, or sell materials requires written permission. Contact [email protected].
basic office suites available via online & downloadfast, full featured, and cross platform compatibility
Community
the people or following
surrounding a certain free or open source
product is usually a tight
knit group
Customers
individuals and other
organizations which the nonprofit
services is affected by
the products
Management
boards, executive
directors, and higher level
decision makers have to know what
to do
Employees
people working for
the nonprofit, including
volunteers, utilize the
open source products daily
Developers
open source products, by definition, are
works in progress; people are needed to
make updates
Support Staff
sometimes internal to the
nonprofit, these are
either designated people or
power users
!"#$%&'()*#%+%,%-#)."#*/0#.
“Copyright Jeffrey Daniel Frey, 2012.” Permission granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided the copyright and author contact appears. To disseminate otherwise, to republish, or sell materials requires written permission. Contact [email protected].
Management
boards, executive
directors, and higher level
decision makers have to know what
to do
!"#$%&'()*#%+%,%-#)."#*/0#.
“Copyright Jeffrey Daniel Frey, 2012.” Permission granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided the copyright and author contact appears. To disseminate otherwise, to republish, or sell materials requires written permission. Contact [email protected].
Budgeting and costs...! no software costs! no programmers! potential for no
hardware costs
Start with the least important thing and work your way up
Look for hidden expenses such as training and conversion costs
Management
boards, executive
directors, and higher level
decision makers have to know what
to do
!"#$%&'()*#%+%,%-#)."#*/0#.
“Copyright Jeffrey Daniel Frey, 2012.” Permission granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided the copyright and author contact appears. To disseminate otherwise, to republish, or sell materials requires written permission. Contact [email protected].
financial systems: some are solid, but not polished, some web based and mature to replace quickbooks
Management
boards, executive
directors, and higher level
decision makers have to know what
to do
!"#$%&'()*#%+%,%-#)."#*/0#.
“Copyright Jeffrey Daniel Frey, 2012.” Permission granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided the copyright and author contact appears. To disseminate otherwise, to republish, or sell materials requires written permission. Contact [email protected].
financial systems: some are solid, but not polished, some web based and mature to replace quickbooks
Management
boards, executive
directors, and higher level
decision makers have to know what
to do
!"#$%&'()*#%+%,%-#)."#*/0#.
“Copyright Jeffrey Daniel Frey, 2012.” Permission granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided the copyright and author contact appears. To disseminate otherwise, to republish, or sell materials requires written permission. Contact [email protected].
financial systems: some are solid, but not polished, some web based and mature to replace quickbooks
Community
the people or following
surrounding a certain free or open source
product is usually a tight
knit group
Customers
individuals and other
organizations which the nonprofit
services is affected by
the products
Management
boards, executive
directors, and higher level
decision makers have to know what
to do
Employees
people working for
the nonprofit, including
volunteers, utilize the
open source products daily
Developers
open source products, by definition, are
works in progress; people are needed to
make updates
Support Staff
sometimes internal to the
nonprofit, these are
either designated people or
power users
!"#$%&'()*#%+%,%-#)."#*/0#.
“Copyright Jeffrey Daniel Frey, 2012.” Permission granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided the copyright and author contact appears. To disseminate otherwise, to republish, or sell materials requires written permission. Contact [email protected].
!"#$%&'()*#%+%,%-#)."#*/0#.
“Copyright Jeffrey Daniel Frey, 2012.” Permission granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided the copyright and author contact appears. To disseminate otherwise, to republish, or sell materials requires written permission. Contact [email protected].
Employees
people working for
the nonprofit, including
volunteers, utilize the
open source products daily
Seemingly robust solutions...! The community is behind it all the way! The customers donʼt notice a difference! The management thinks the costs are just right
Potential lack of documentation and delays in getting help may lead to a lack of confidence, a lot of time spent training, converting, and using
!"#$%&'()*#%+%,%-#)."#*/0#.
“Copyright Jeffrey Daniel Frey, 2012.” Permission granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided the copyright and author contact appears. To disseminate otherwise, to republish, or sell materials requires written permission. Contact [email protected].
Employees
people working for
the nonprofit, including
volunteers, utilize the
open source products daily
Customer Relationship Management: typically hosted, very feature rich, lots of partners/support
!"#$%&'()*#%+%,%-#)."#*/0#.
“Copyright Jeffrey Daniel Frey, 2012.” Permission granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided the copyright and author contact appears. To disseminate otherwise, to republish, or sell materials requires written permission. Contact [email protected].
Employees
people working for
the nonprofit, including
volunteers, utilize the
open source products daily
Customer Relationship Management: typically hosted, very feature rich, lots of partners/support
!"#$%&'()*#%+%,%-#)."#*/0#.
“Copyright Jeffrey Daniel Frey, 2012.” Permission granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided the copyright and author contact appears. To disseminate otherwise, to republish, or sell materials requires written permission. Contact [email protected].
Employees
people working for
the nonprofit, including
volunteers, utilize the
open source products daily
Customer Relationship Management: typically hosted, very feature rich, lots of partners/support
Community
the people or following
surrounding a certain free or open source
product is usually a tight
knit group
Customers
individuals and other
organizations which the nonprofit
services is affected by
the products
Management
boards, executive
directors, and higher level
decision makers have to know what
to do
Employees
people working for
the nonprofit, including
volunteers, utilize the
open source products daily
Developers
open source products, by definition, are
works in progress; people are needed to
make updates
Support Staff
sometimes internal to the
nonprofit, these are
either designated people or
power users
!"#$%&'()*#%+%,%-#)."#*/0#.
“Copyright Jeffrey Daniel Frey, 2012.” Permission granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided the copyright and author contact appears. To disseminate otherwise, to republish, or sell materials requires written permission. Contact [email protected].
!"#$%&'()*#%+%,%-#)."#*/0#.
“Copyright Jeffrey Daniel Frey, 2012.” Permission granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided the copyright and author contact appears. To disseminate otherwise, to republish, or sell materials requires written permission. Contact [email protected].
Developers
open source products, by definition, are
works in progress; people are needed to
make updates
Still have to be a mechanic...! The analogy is: proprietary software is like
buying a car with hood welded shut! Open source, you can play with the engine! Starting from scratch would be impossible! Can customize and control what you need to
What are the code base standards, is there a good available API, where can you get help
!"#$%&'()*#%+%,%-#)."#*/0#.
“Copyright Jeffrey Daniel Frey, 2012.” Permission granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided the copyright and author contact appears. To disseminate otherwise, to republish, or sell materials requires written permission. Contact [email protected].
Developers
open source products, by definition, are
works in progress; people are needed to
make updates Web content management solutions, mostly built in PHP and MySQL, lots of plug-ins, some more complicated than others, mature communities
!"#$%&'()*#%+%,%-#)."#*/0#.
“Copyright Jeffrey Daniel Frey, 2012.” Permission granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided the copyright and author contact appears. To disseminate otherwise, to republish, or sell materials requires written permission. Contact [email protected].
Developers
open source products, by definition, are
works in progress; people are needed to
make updates Web content management solutions, mostly built in PHP and MySQL, lots of plug-ins, some more complicated than others, mature communities
!"#$%&'()*#%+%,%-#)."#*/0#.
“Copyright Jeffrey Daniel Frey, 2012.” Permission granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided the copyright and author contact appears. To disseminate otherwise, to republish, or sell materials requires written permission. Contact [email protected].
Developers
open source products, by definition, are
works in progress; people are needed to
make updates Web content management solutions, mostly built in PHP and MySQL, lots of plug-ins, some more complicated than others, mature communities
!"#$%&'()*#%+%,%-#)."#*/0#.
“Copyright Jeffrey Daniel Frey, 2012.” Permission granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided the copyright and author contact appears. To disseminate otherwise, to republish, or sell materials requires written permission. Contact [email protected].
Developers
open source products, by definition, are
works in progress; people are needed to
make updates Web content management solutions, mostly built in PHP and MySQL, lots of plug-ins, some more complicated than others, mature communities
Community
the people or following
surrounding a certain free or open source
product is usually a tight
knit group
Customers
individuals and other
organizations which the nonprofit
services is affected by
the products
Management
boards, executive
directors, and higher level
decision makers have to know what
to do
Employees
people working for
the nonprofit, including
volunteers, utilize the
open source products daily
Developers
open source products, by definition, are
works in progress; people are needed to
make updates
Support Staff
sometimes internal to the
nonprofit, these are
either designated people or
power users
!"#$%&'()*#%+%,%-#)."#*/0#.
“Copyright Jeffrey Daniel Frey, 2012.” Permission granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided the copyright and author contact appears. To disseminate otherwise, to republish, or sell materials requires written permission. Contact [email protected].
!"#$%&'()*#%+%,%-#)."#*/0#.
“Copyright Jeffrey Daniel Frey, 2012.” Permission granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided the copyright and author contact appears. To disseminate otherwise, to republish, or sell materials requires written permission. Contact [email protected].
Support Staff
sometimes internal to the
nonprofit, these are
either designated people or
power users
Established communities are typically advanced...! Regular roll out schedules, versions, patches! A network of partners and support professionals
Are there hardware, network, back up, and maintenance costs that have to be figured in, how much time is spent that could have been done by the help desk of purchased software
!"#$%&'()*#%+%,%-#)."#*/0#.
“Copyright Jeffrey Daniel Frey, 2012.” Permission granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided the copyright and author contact appears. To disseminate otherwise, to republish, or sell materials requires written permission. Contact [email protected].
Support Staff
sometimes internal to the
nonprofit, these are
either designated people or
power usersvery mature products, very large user base, sometimes more popular than proprietary
!"#$%&'()*#%+%,%-#)."#*/0#.
“Copyright Jeffrey Daniel Frey, 2012.” Permission granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided the copyright and author contact appears. To disseminate otherwise, to republish, or sell materials requires written permission. Contact [email protected].
Support Staff
sometimes internal to the
nonprofit, these are
either designated people or
power usersvery mature products, very large user base, sometimes more popular than proprietary
!"#$%&'()*#%+%,%-#)."#*/0#.
“Copyright Jeffrey Daniel Frey, 2012.” Permission granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided the copyright and author contact appears. To disseminate otherwise, to republish, or sell materials requires written permission. Contact [email protected].
Support Staff
sometimes internal to the
nonprofit, these are
either designated people or
power usersvery mature products, very large user base, sometimes more popular than proprietary
!"#$%&'()*#%+%,%-#)."#*/0#.
“Copyright Jeffrey Daniel Frey, 2012.” Permission granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided the copyright and author contact appears. To disseminate otherwise, to republish, or sell materials requires written permission. Contact [email protected].
Support Staff
sometimes internal to the
nonprofit, these are
either designated people or
power usersvery mature products, very large user base, sometimes more popular than proprietary
Community
the people or following
surrounding a certain free or open source
product is usually a tight
knit group
Customers
individuals and other
organizations which the nonprofit
services is affected by
the products
Management
boards, executive
directors, and higher level
decision makers have to know what
to do
Employees
people working for
the nonprofit, including
volunteers, utilize the
open source products daily
Developers
open source products, by definition, are
works in progress; people are needed to
make updates
Support Staff
sometimes internal to the
nonprofit, these are
either designated people or
power users
!"#$%&'()*#%+%,%-#)."#*/0#.
“Copyright Jeffrey Daniel Frey, 2012.” Permission granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided the copyright and author contact appears. To disseminate otherwise, to republish, or sell materials requires written permission. Contact [email protected].
