From the course: Protecting Your Network with Open Source Software

Costs and savings

From the course: Protecting Your Network with Open Source Software

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Costs and savings

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- [Instructor] Have you ever heard of the total cost of ownership or TCO? TCO is highly relevant to our discussion of open source products. On the surface, open source software, that is also free, appears to be a fantastic deal. However, there are many hidden costs when you take a closer look. Just like anything in this world software applications have lifespans or life cycles. We purchase and introduce them to production environment that is comparable to a person being born. Ample support is necessary especially in the beginning because of all the rough edges to be smoothed out for the software to be fully integrated into its environment. The users also need support in the form of training on how to use the software properly. As I mentioned, in the previous lesson, end user support is problematic unless you have a dedicated and knowledgeable team managing your open source software internally. When using a commercial product, you can shift much of these support costs to vendors like Microsoft. Considering the cost incurred during its entire life cycle, free and open source solutions may cost you more than merely using a third party offering commercial software and technical support. Because of this reality many open source providers also offer technical support and make a profit. Therefore you should always consider taking advantage of user support options, whether the software of your choice is open source or not. Despite the TCO, open source is still an excellent choice when you're starting to build your cyber security infrastructure and want to evaluate different options before settling on one. If you already have in-house expertise all you have to do is download, install and try it without worrying about speaking with sales representatives. My job in this course is to help you develop your knowledge in some of the most popular open source cybersecurity solutions so that you minimize your TCO.

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