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Proprietary vs Open Source Software

If you are reading this page... then you understand that a choice of using proprietary or open source is a very serious decision that needs to be made for a new website project.

The primary differences are cost; security, service & maintenance, and life cycle. All except cost favor the proprietary software.

DWD offers the best of both worlds with our proprietary Content Management System (CMS). More than 10 years we have been providing a cost effective solution that filled a need that was above and beyond the capabilities of the open source solutions and... Learn More > >

Cost:  Most of the time "cost" is the real issue... if you don't mind making conciliations for the way things work in your website, if security isn't high on your list, and lifespan is not a concern, if cost is most important. Then an open source project may be a suitable choice. Before you make a decision, let us send you a
No Obligation Proposal > >

But know all your costs, because a bid from DWD is often little or no more expensive than the equivalent. Basing your website core on open source projects like, WordPress, Joomla, Drupel or any of the many other open source projects appears attractive until you start adding up if you want a custom theme not a modified template. Modifying the control panel to make a clean look inside and out gets expensive.

"Nothing in Life is Truly Free"

Support: At DWD we become your partner in technology. Our products are not built by volunteers that will, over time, most likely vanish and stop supporting the software updates and security patches. Maintaining a piece of software is not a trivial task and requires substantial resources to do so. Open source projects are heavily dependent on patches and core volunteer staff because the files are available to anyone that wants to look for weaknesses to exploit.

We are still servicing the first website we built... 10 years ago!

Quality: All DWD products are built to the highest WC3 standards. Open source CMS begin with a core developed by a group of active volunteers and the plug-ins required to expand features and functions are built by individuals without quality control super vision.

Security:  If you are working with a client that is required or will be required to conduct security audits, open source systems are not an option.  Having access to the code makes the process of finding security holes to exploit an easy task for hackers.  Finding the vulnerability is half the battle.

Features and Flexibility:  The feature set, ease of use, and flexibility of the DWD currently far exceeds the open source solutions.  We realize this gap may or may not narrow, but I can confidently say there was a gap two years ago and there still is today.  The Church Community Solutions team has dedicated resources to ensure the DWD solution always stays one step ahead of the competition.

Shared or hosting service provided content management systems are inexpensive, but lack the scalability, and customization possible from owning your own system. All of our products are built on our proprietary content management system (CMS). We grant our client a single use license. They own it forever, they can sell it.

Upgrading your entire site design is easy and inexpensive. Keep your website modern with the latest page look/feel and design without replacing the engine or database that power the back end. 

Huge Savings example: Client A buys an Active CMS 10 years ago, and has a complete design update for less than $1,500 every 3 years. Today, they are on their third complete design modernization. Not one training class or complaint of missing data and all tried & true systems are still in place. But your site looks brand new!

Life Cycle of proprietary software is hinged on the language it is programmed in.

Customizations - If you want to customize an open source project CMS, you'll need a programmer that knows the system and has the skills to complete the task. This is not unlike a proprietary application.  You can try your luck with the community, but finding the piece that fits your exact need is often not there or doesn’t work exactly the way you want it to. You will lose your custom work with the next patch or update if it is written to the core and many other problems can arise from having many contributors.

High End Solution:  For companies seeking a new web provider, the open source solution is more often than not going to be the cheapest proposal on the table.  Do you want the cheapest solution?  Or, do you want the best solution?  We provide high end products at economical prices. Learn More >>

We could go on and on with this but you most likely have already done your research and are probably up to speed on the Open versus Proprietary debate.  Before you decide, let us send you a proposal on your project.

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