Affordable Web Development Options
Part I - Open Source

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Technology
E-Newsletter

Issue 20 - September 2007
”For over 10 years, Datapro has worked closely with our organization to develop a number of critical business software solutions, each of which have delivered a high measurable return on investment. Datapro’s excellent grasp of applied business concepts enables them to deliver flexible, cost-effective solutions that add value well beyond our expectations. In a dessert of difficult and expensive technology providers, Datapro is an oasis.”
- Jerome Horowitz,
Solideal Tire, Inc.

MS Access & Wireless

With the advent of wireless technologies, many companies are starting to implement wireless LAN's (internal local area networks). Due to momentary connectivity losses that can still occur with wireless connections, most software applications developed using Microsoft Access will experience problems when run over wireless networks. Therefore, we recommend that companies that run networked Access-based applications continue to use only hard-wired local area networks.

As more and more organizations are using the Internet as a means to operate, market and grow their business, smaller companies are asking how they can get on board without the high price tag often associated with such initiatives.

The very openness and connectedness of the Internet has resulted in the creation of a new group of software options that are not available with traditional Windows-based software.

Technology offshoots of the Internet such as open source, hosted applications and web services have created new opportunities for organizations both big and small to develop fully customized web-based applications without the high cost of their Windows-based equivalents.

Over the next series of newsletters we will discuss some real-world examples of these technologies and how companies can take advantage of them in order to create cost-effective solutions that result in a high and rapid return on their technology investments.

PART I – OPEN SOURCE

The term open source can mean many things depending on who you ask. For the purpose of this article, open source software is defined as software where the programming code is available to the general public either at no charge or for a nominal price.

Upon purchasing or downloading open source software, you also receive a complete copy of the underlying programming code that was used to develop the software. The software license allows the owner to freely modify and add to the existing code base in order to customize the software to meet the specific requirements of their business.

The open source option makes the most sense for more generic software applications where the majority of the functionality requirements are the same or similar across many organizations. Because most a company’s requirements are usually met ‘out-of-the-box’, less customization is usually required. For the right applications, open source software combines the advantages of fully customized software with the cost-effectiveness of an off-the-shelf software package.

A great example of this is a piece of software called .netCART (www.dotnetcart.com). .netCART is a full-featured shopping cart and e-commerce solution that businesses can use to sell their products over the Internet. An Internet storefront lends itself very well to the customizable open source model because the functionality requirements are usually quite similar for most companies.

Because .netCART was started in 1998 and is continually adding new features based on the requirements of its user base, it now includes an extremely rich feature set. While it can still be further customized as required, most businesses can now use it to establish a robust Internet-based storefront with little or no customization.

Furthermore, as the name indicates, .netCART is developed using Microsoft’s ASP.NET development platform, the most widely used development platform for web-based applications today. This makes it easy for organizations to find the programming resources needed to carry out any required customization.

A single store .netCART license without e-commerce functionality is only $295. A bundle including full e-commerce functionality can be purchased for only $495. Each license is registered or bound to one web site address, which means that a separate license must be purchased for each store or web site.

While the overall cost to deploy .netCART varies from company to company depending on their specific requirements, this cost usually represents a fraction of developing their own solution from the ground-up.

Open source is only one example of the options that are available to companies when considering the strategies for developing Internet-based technology solutions. When a company is considering a new technology initiative that will include Internet-based components, it is important that they learn about these options in order to avoid unnecessary development costs.


Datapro Technology Solutions is an IT consulting firm that helps small and medium-sized businesses get the most from their investments in technology.

To find out more about the services we provide and how we might be able to help your business, visit our web site at dataproforbusiness.com or give us a call at 416-977-1991.

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