Costs of Open Source Software Tool

Last updated July 3, 2012.

Libraries must heavily weigh cost and sustainability with regards to their overall technology strategies. Resources available to technology and technology support will always be limited, and only a portion of a library’s budget; therefore, these resources must be allocated effectively and efficiently. The more resource a library allocates to one technology effort directly impacts the amount of resource available for other technology efforts. Even more so, certain types of resources, such as staff resources, have certain limitations that also need to be taken into account; the availability of classes of resources, such as money, people and expertise are all key elements that can only be allocated across so many efforts and in so many ways. Each of these elements should be tracked and brought into consideration when contemplating the adoption of new technology and the total cost of ownership (TCO) associated with implementing a technology solution.

To support the decision-making process in choosing a proper software solution, the Costs for Open Source Software Tool (COSST) provides a standard template that can be utilized to compile the various one-time and ongoing costs for deploying a software solution. While the COSST has been created with the costs related to deploying open source software, it can be used with both open source and commercial software solutions.

Authored by Jeremy Frumkin.