According to Linux Warehouse MD Jan-Jan van der Vyver, vendors give a company “peace of mind” because they have the technical knowledge and skills to take care of problems for the organisation and ensure they do not happen again. “That level and depth of support is really what you are buying when you choose to go with vendor-supported open source software,” Van der Vyver said, adding that the skills that accompany this kind of support are invaluable. “All of these guys have specific training modules and programmes available, which expands the knowledge of your workforce.”
This sentiment was shared by all the panellists. “I think one of the most important things is the support. With open source products, the products are typically developed in the community, and what an open source vendor does is take that risk out of the community and supports it in a long-term way,” said Sven Lesicnik, MD of Linux System Dynamics (LSD).