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OK, let’s start by clearing the air and saying that there are many open source software platforms that are just fine! With a title like 5 Reasons Why Open Source Software is Bad, I get how that could be confusing. But here’s the deal, when it comes to Digital Asset Management (DAM) — which we consider ourselves subject matter experts in — we think you deserve better.
We think that, because we know it’s true. You deserve a DAM platform that’s customized to your needs. You need one that provides 24-7 support and resources that help you continually learn how to get the most from your software. You don’t search for a DAM before you’ve really felt the pain points of not having one, and we just happen to think that you should have a DAM that fits your asset management needs like a glove.
So, without further ado, here are five reasons why open source software is bad (aka, why you deserve better from your DAM).
1. Open Source DAM Suffers From a Slow or Delayed Development Pace
When a project suffers from too many “volunteer” developers, it can spell huge delays or an excruciatingly slow development pace. In the meantime, competitors can make advancements in their technology, you can lose out on the important tools and services your business needs to excel, and you may find yourself stuck with some of the same pain points you had before adopting your DAM.
This is a problem, especially because not all open source solutions are free. If you’re paying for a DAM that isn’t delivering you a state-of-the-art asset management experience, you need a new DAM. And that’s why this is another reason why open source software is bad.
2. Open Source DAM Can Lack Manpower, Resulting in Delays You Can’t Afford
This point is more or less a continuation of our first point, but if you find yourself wondering if or why open space software is bad, this is an important area to focus on. If you’re using an open source DAM, you risk having a platform that doesn’t come with the manpower necessary to keep their platforms (or your assets) up to industry standards.
When you’re vetting potential DAMs, ask how many developers will be working on improving the platform, what their cadence of new feature releases is, and what their product roadmap looks like. This gives you a good idea of how much manpower will be dedicated to keeping your assets easily accessible, always.
3. Open Source DAM May Require You to Spend More on Overhead to Manage IT
Some open source DAM solutions don’t have dedicated support. Or they have support that is slow in their response time or unable to collaborate to customize or tweak your DAM to meet your brand’s unique needs.
The right DAM will work with you to build completely new features for your specific use cases. You can read here about how we partnered with Spyderco Knives to help them host their entire website using Brandfolder’s API. It took time and resources, but those are two things our dedicated team is willing to provide for clients.
We also believe in great customer service (which is why, according to G2 Crowd, our customers have voted us #1 for Customer Satisfaction repeatedly). This means you don’t have to hire an outside IT manager, or software manager to oversee your DAM. We think that if you need to hire someone to manage your DAM, it kind of defeats the purpose of getting a DAM to make your life easier and save you money.
4. Open Source DAM Can Result in Crowdsourced Technology
Do you want your technology to be crowdsourced? Especially the technology that houses your most important brand assets? We didn’t think so. While crowdsourced technology may develop features rapidly, those features also need to be updated and supported. And if your open source DAM solution doesn’t have the manpower necessary to provide those updates and that support, it could spell disaster for your feature-heavy DAM.
5. Open Source DAMs Run on Plugins and Add-Ons
If you’re a WordPress user, you know what this means. Your plugins will eventually go out of date, and can be a pain to locate, update, or fix. That takes valuable time and resources away from the work that matters most, and makes your DAM, well, not a time-saving platform anymore.
With a DAM like Brandfolder, your features are your features. If we roll out a new version or make updates, we’ll take care of updating your platform, so you don’t have to. Want to add on a new feature, or just want a review of how a certain part of your DAM works? We’d love to set up a few minutes on your calendar to walk you through it. You deserve this kind of time and attention. And that’s why this is the final, most important reason why open source software is bad.
Be Better Than Open Source …
… because we already know you are. Why open source software is bad? Because the right DAM platform will be affordable, deliver a great ROI, give you valuable time back in your week, and deliver the right features for your unique needs (not features for needs you never had in the first place). And we don’t think you’ll find that with an open source solution. Sound like something you’re interested in? We’d love to give you a free quote. Get in touch today!
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