Thursday, May 21, 2009

The Price of "FREE" Open Source Software has really become Expensive!!

I was looking at the OpenGeo Version Matrix and the price to "buy in" to the open source geospaital software has really become crazy! It appears the line between capitalist and geospatial philanthropist has really become blurred. It's more expensive to buy into open source than to purchase COTS software today!

$70,000 for 300 hours of service!!!!!!!!!!! OMG!

I run into so many clients that are "hamstrung" on open source solutions that are being funnelled into a bottomless money pit with open source. No doubt, the "hook" to allure people into the evaluation stage is there with the "free" pitch, but the REALITY of what it will take to really meet requirements smacks you in the face immediately.

The business model of "Try it...figure out what you really want...then pay me 70K" open source model is a bit crazy.

Always remember, you buy into it, YOU MAINTAIN it for the rest of your life. OUCH!

The market is begging for a vendor to pick up the ball here...luckily, ERDAS is HERE!

Give the "out of the box" SDI that works, has a WORLD CLASS development, support and product management team supporting the project with real world PRODUCTIZED features and evaluate the difference for yourself!

The ERDAS APOLLO!!!

Can somebody calculate an ROI for me immediately!

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