There are a number of security options available to small and medium sized businesses. The problem is that even a modest program can suddenly put quite a dent in a business’s budget.
A solution might be to go open source. Think of this as the “rent a cop” version of computer security. While many small businesses are jumping on the open source bandwagon for many applications and in some cases even operating systems, the question is whether it is right for security. The biggest issue of course is the issue of safety and reliability. Open source, as the name suggests, typically lacks support from a big company.
It also means that the programs could have design flaws that allow hackers to access a system – thus defeating the purpose of security software in the first place. So decide whether open source is right you need to weigh the pros and cons.
The biggest benefit is certainly going to be the cost, which will be far less than commercial counterparts. For the most part the established brands should be as secure as the commercial products, and in many cases even more secure say the experts. The free software can also be free of regulatory issues that can come in to play when using licensed software.
Additionally open source tools provide companies with greater agility and the ability to modify the programs as necessary to meet your own needs. Enterprises can even test the code before they choose to implement it to determine that it is the right fit.
The downside to open source is the aforementioned lack of the support. Many applications do have support from the online community; this isn’t always the case and the newer the application the less support there is going to be. In the open source world you can’t always count on someone to be accountable should something go wrong.
The other significant downside to open source is that ironically it isn’t always enterprise-ready out of the box – especially as there often isn’t a box! This means that businesses may have flexibility but this
flexibility is also forced, so instead of a “one size fits all” application, you’re faced with a “must customize to your needs.”
If that’s not a problem, and you don’t need round the clock support, open source security might be the way to go to get good security software at a truly affordable price.