Open source software is good for your business since it allows you the freedom to modify it, so it meets all your company requirements. Aside from excellent security, the software is also cost-effective since you don’t have to worry about overpaying to use readily-available software. Security tools like Kiuwan ensure that open source software and applications built on them are secure and fully-functional. Below are the five main benefits of open source solutions.
1. Quality
Professionals with expertise in this field strive to create quality products. Developers in the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) have excellent initial designs to ensure all your business needs are met.
Much thought and effort are put into the design and development of open source software to guarantee functionality and performance. The time dedicated to quality makes open source software better than proprietary solutions. Developers even use user feedback to improve the usability of open source solutions.
2. Freedom
Unlike proprietary solutions, opens source software allows you the freedom to do what you want with the software. The utilization of custom protocols and undocumented file formats can be restricted due to the lock-ins created by vendors. Open source solutions, on the other hand, ensure you are not bound by upgrades and new versions that might not be aligned with your business needs in the first place.
The freedom that comes with open source solutions ensures you are at liberty to modify your software to suit your business requirements. Besides, there is a large community of developers at your disposal for such modifications. Being at the mercies of proprietary software vendors means you have to think about new hardware purchases to run new software versions.
3. Compliance With Official Standards
Open source software can be made interoperable with your business software. As a standard software, open source software is convenient because unlike proprietary file formats, you don’t run the risk of burdening your business. With an unrestricted software environment, business operation is made simple and seamless.
You don’t need to worry about interoperability constraints on your infrastructure and software. The integration of open source solutions with your company’s network protocols allows seamless communication through different systems.
4. Cost
Open source solutions save you from incurring costly licensing fees. Most of the time proprietary solution vendors will charge you per outrageously expensive machine. Open source solutions, on the other hand, save you from a high initial outlay.
Information technology resources are readily available, and as such should not cost you an arm and a leg to use. Besides, using proprietary solutions potentially prohibits growth. Without the liberty to make the necessary changes to ensure your business operations are seamless, the company is likely going to slack.
Free-to-use open source solutions also allow you to try before fully subscribing to a specific package. Not to forget that you don’t have to worry about incurring direct charges during the trial period.
Finally, the fact that you can modify open source software to your liking guarantees a good cost to performance ratio. You get to meet your business requirements without breaking the bank. This is reason enough to consider using open source solutions seriously as a company owner.
5. Security
Open source solutions ensure that your company’s intellectual property is protected. The storage of intellectual property in a company is a major concern as the business can be permanently curtailed if such sensitive information falls in the wrong hands. Open source solutions, with publicly available codes, ensure that security vulnerabilities are easily identified and resolved.
The quick resolution of such loopholes ensures that the security remains airtight. The software composition needs to have security included from the onset. For a Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), security need not be an afterthought.
Recent researches have revealed security concerns about open source software. Applications built on open source as a foundation risk falling apart. Meticulous tracking and performing Software Composition Analysis (SCA) on a codebase ensures that security vulnerabilities are identified before its too late.
Kiuwan as a Security Tool
Kiuwan, as a security tool, ensures that applications are shielded from security risks. With Kiuwan, you get to leverage Software Composition Analysis (SCA) and Software development Life Cycle (SDLC) to discover unpatched code, as well as, licensing issues. Monitoring and identification of open source frameworks and components ensure you have the software’s security under control.
Kiuwan is a fast and agile tool that silently adds security to your open source software without analysis on the central servers. It is a fast-analyzing and distributed engine with scalable performance. This guarantees secure coding practices for SDLC ensures as many developers as possible can build a secure application using open source software as a foundation.
Leveraging SAST
Software applications have become complex, and it is the more reason security should be incorporated before SDLC progresses further. Static Application Security Testing (SAST) is a form of software quality assurance procedure that prevents defects and omissions during the development of open source software.
It is better to repair issues at the onset of software development, and this is where SAST comes in. Leveraging SAST ensures users’ increased expectations are met. As a company owner, you get to ensure an open source software that won’t easily break down.
Such test-driven development and the establishment of test cases allows the elimination of security weaknesses for a measurable quality assurance process. The development of the metric, however, should be done based on measurable goals since an error in coding and software development cannot be completely phased out.
Static Application Security Testing is especially useful because applications are developed based on the developer’s and users’ perspectives. This way, as a company owner, you get a custom open source software that meets your business requirements. All in all, testing for security and quality issues ensure every piece of code is free from error for better software performance.
Open source solutions are excellent for your business since you can modify them to suit your company’s requirements. Open source software quality assurance ensures security weakness is identified and resolved. If you would like to know more about open source solutions, contact us. We will be glad to assist you.
