The Open-Source Cloud Computing Paradigm for Small and Medium-sized Enterprise A demonstration of the OpenCart e-commerce solutionDr Ali Robertsonalastair.robertson@iomcollege.ac.imhttp://www.alirobertson.net 1

The world is flat…

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http://kirstenlorenzen.wordpress.com/2013/01/22/globalization-the-world-is-flat/

And it just become flatter…• Smaller organisations typically struggle to engage with IT

effectively.• Many reasons, as will be discussed.• Just because you are a good entrepreneur, doesn’t mean you can

embrace high-end computing – right?

• This presentation introduces the idea that technologies that have become the mainstay of larger corporations are now available to smaller enterprises.• And they are free, well, almost…

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Why is our understanding of the small business technology market important?• DTI (2005): Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) account for 60% of GDP

and 58% of employment.• 4.3 million businesses the UK exist, large and small.• 99% of these are SMEs!

• Implies that if SMEs apply ICT more effectively, it would have a significant and positive impact on the economy.

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http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sme/facts-figures-analysis/sme-definition/index_en.htm

The make-up of a typical SME entrepreneur • Busy• Multi-tasker• Experienced in their role• Good business acumen• Typical age – 40 to 50

• Outcome of a UK NW region survey (2006/7): • See https://alirobertson.net/research-fora/• Director/owners of enterprise have a LOW psychological propensity to

adopt technologies generally• Approximately 50% self-categorize as:

• Not enjoying using technology• Not finding technology easy to use• YET• Many of the low propensity IT adopters look at technology as useful!

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Comparing people who run businesses large and small…• Group question: What is the difference between a large

business entrepreneur and a small business entrepreneur if they BOTH dislike technology?

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• Larger businesses have financial resources smaller organisations do not have.

• The large business entrepreneur can afford experienced IT staff who can make electronic ‘stuff’ happen as needed.

• And this is why smaller enterprises tend to significantly lag larger enterprises in terms of innovation adoption.

• IT consultants are very expensive, often unable to work out requirements/needs of businesses successfully.

Open-source software paradigm• Open-source (OS) software promotes the creation of software tools that are free to download

and use.• Community driven development.

• No ownership of code that creates the software.

• Moodle is an example of OS technology.• About 85% of HEIs in UK use Moodle in some form.

• Alirobertson.net is built using the WordPress OS framework.

• OS has now moved into the business domain in many forms.• E-commerce, CRM, Project Management etc.

• Very recently (within 3 years), OS community has driven the creation of e-commerce ‘models’ which enable fast creation of complex e-commerce sites.

• Relatively Simple to use.• Cheap to run.• Automates many of the business processes that were once paper driven.

• e.g. payment systems, customer intelligence systems, order/stock management, customer interaction (e.g. reviews, automated email systems).

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Steroids for the SMEs?

Let’s look at what this world looks like ‘live’• For this demonstration I will use a website hosting company called

GoDaddy.

• Provides various website creation/hosting services for about £200 per year.

• Includes a multitude of free-to-use and install OS packages.

• I will now show you that it takes about 15 minutes to choose, install and test a new e-commerce website.• Assumes that the business already has a web presence.

• Relatively easy to do?

• Shows that the past complexity of developing an e-commerce solution has disappeared, well almost!

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So, what could possibly go wrong?• On the face it, the process to set up a site has been greatly

simplified.

• Some issues entrepreneurs must address:• Version upgrades must be handled with caution.

• Recent move from OpenCart 1.5 to 2.0 highlights the problem

• The entrepreneur must learn to take care of the newly found data.• Regular ‘safe’ backups – not a pen drive!• Customer data must be protected.

• Open-source communities move and change.• Need some assurance that the e-commerce site can ‘move’ into

another e-commerce framework.9