Written by
Ludovic Dubost
, Founder and CEO
Has your department or business been recently impacted by the surge in prices from major Tech Giants?
If you're one of the people in your company overseeing a budget, then we're in a similar position. Running a department or business and making sure employees have the tools they need to do their job well has started to be more challenging with unexpected price increases.
You start prioritizing some tools while cutting others. When these giants are let to dominate the market, they set the rules and prices, leaving customers with few choices.
This is one of reasons why there's a growing trend amidst open-source vendors to offer competitive and comprehensive solutions that provide real alternatives to expensive Big Tech products at a fraction of the cost. This doesn't come from the software being lower quality, but from the technical benefits of the open-source approach. And for the client, it also means a much more fair pricing policy which open-source helps guarantee.
1. Remember you still have freedom of choice
If your team uses Confluence or Notion, you most probably had discussions recently about the price increases, change of hosting or plan. A few months ago I also gave an interview to Website Planet where we touched upon how cybersecurity requirements are growing, while the promise of low prices vanish. Customers seem invisible with their needs in terms of software performance and hosting not being met.
We had this case for the last 4 years with over 500 Atlassian customers coming to us because of Atlassian’s decision to stop “Confluence Server” and push customers to the Cloud, or to switch to a much pricier offer to stay on-premise.
You might be tempted to think that we have to accept whatever Big Tech might throw at us. However, it's important to remember that you have options beyond simply clicking "Accept" and moving on.
What to do to as a company: Don't let yourself influence by heavy marketing from the large providers. Do your own research. You can ask your employees for open-source software alternatives to the tools you already use. You can also join various forums and see what people are suggesting when discussing replacing a tool with an open-source one. Test the tools and also calculate a total cost of ownership for your shortlist so that you understand the cost implications across time. Lastly, ask for budget for a proof of concept for a team to see how well the tool answers needs and gather feedback.
2. Recognize the value of open source
Sometimes people don't choose open-source software because they don't know about it or don't understand how it works or how it's funded.
Open-source software provides significant benefits in terms of flexibility and innovation. Its flexibility comes from the ability to modify and customize the software to meet specific needs. For instance, with XWiki, users can adapt their wiki platform to their unique requirements, adding or modifying features as necessary, without being constrained by vendor-imposed software or hosting limitations.
In terms of innovation, open-source communities contribute to rapid development and the integration of advanced features. Large users end up contributing either themselves, or by funding the developers of the software to make the software a better respond to their needs. A good example is Linux, which has continuously evolved and improved thanks to contributions from developers around the world, resulting in a highly secure and efficient operating system. Many developers are invested in the software they use and care about how its being developed. At XWiki SAS we try to educate our employees and people outside the project through:
- Extensive documentation about the capabilities that our open-source platform offers;
- Presentations at business and college events;
- Educational content;
- Webinars;
- Interviews;
- Success stories.
Open-source also keeps vendors more "fair". If open-source vendors abuse their position by increasing the prices without proper justification, customers still have the choice to continue to run the software with alternative service providers. This gives higher protection to customer to future prize increases.
What to do as a company: Here, it depends on the level of technical competence to understand what open source brings for a company or on the level of other people in the company. In some instances, you might need to first educate people about open-source software and then, when the opportunity arises, integrate open-source solutions into your existing infrastructure. Start with non-critical applications and expand as you gain knowledge and confidence. If your company lacks the technical competence, the developers of the software usually have a solution to help you out, which helps you implement the software, but also brings funding to furthermore improve it.
In XWiki SAS, we're glad to see customers who are not blinded by the promises of delegating all their IT to the Cloud.
3. Make the change, one tool at a time
There's no nice way of saying this. If you want to not be at the Tech Giant's mercy, you have to actively move away from that type of software. It's not something that happens immediately. You might work in a company, adopt a few open-source tools, change jobs, and then restart the process of shifting to open-source software in another organization. But through the process of acquiring knowledge and experience you'll lead by example and advocate for the value that open source brings much easier.
What to do as a company: Develop a phased plan for transitioning to open-source software. This should include timelines, resource allocation, and risk management strategies. Educate your team on the new tools and offer support where needed. A middle way that we've also used previously is to maintain some critical applications on proprietary software while gradually shifting other functions to open-source alternatives.
Usually, the more users get accustomed to other options, the easier they can see "the light" at the end of the monopoly tunnel.
What to do as an individual user
If you are an individual user, price is typically not the issue, but rather the ever-increasing tracking and unexpected changes in the software and data processing policies. Individual users can also break free from proprietary monopolies with open-source products and other privacy preserving solutions. Look at forums which list great alternatives for individual users such as CryptPad. Many users are very happy to share their honest opinions and experiences with already available products and explain to you why they are ambassadors for them.
Here are a few forum suggestions to go and ask about open-source alternatives and privacy solutions:
- Dev.to
- Stack Exchange
- Open Source subreddit
- Privacy Tools IO subreddit
- Privacy subreddit
- DeGoogle subreddit
- Privacy Guides subreddit
- Privacy Guides forum
- The Ask section on Hacker News
You can also check our compiled list of A to Z open-source software alternatives and send us your suggestions as well.
Moving forward
Dealing with Big Tech's ever-increasing pricing requires a shift in mindset and in priorities. It involves conscious effort that can surpass the costs of change.
By embracing open-source alternatives, you gain control over your software environment and protect your organization from the whims of Big Tech pricing policies and any potential vendor lock-in. Our experience with helping clients migrate from Confluence to XWiki has proven that changing tools is not only feasible, but also the better decision in the long-run.
We'd be more than happy to discuss with you and help you understand more about how open source, and more specifically, how XWiki or CryptPad could benefit your company and work.
