Divorcing Your Closed Software Platform

closed software (or what some might call Proprietary software) controls you. It's time for a divorce.

As proponents of open source software, we often find people stuck in bad relationships — with their software.

People tease me often because when faced with a seemingly difficult decision around eating lunch I’ll say,

“You’re not getting married — just choose a sandwich!”

Now, an investment in software is a large financial commitment one that, most likely, will be accrued over several years and enumerated on the depreciated assets list to your CPA. But it’s not a lifetime commitment, nor should it be. This is where I point out that “Open Source” does not mean free. Resources like time, teams, and investment are required regardless of whether you choose an Open Source or Proprietary platform to operate your business.

Do you remember the movie Sleeping with the Enemy? The husband controlled his wife — to every detail, even the orientation of the cans in the cupboard. By no means do we intend to trivialize abusive relationships. They’re suffocating. They control and trap you and make you think there are no other options.

To a much lesser degree, closed software (or what some might call Proprietary software) controls you. We’ve all had that amazing demo by the well-dressed salesperson. Nice socks! It comes off as slick and charming. It woos you. But, often, once you’re attached to this investment, it limits what you can do.

Closed platforms isolate you from opportunity.
Closed platforms isolate you from opportunity.

Most importantly, it limits what you can do with other marketing, admin, or developer teams with your software. You’re isolated. You feel guilty for even feeling frustrated because you’ve invested so much of your resources. You’ve spent so much time in training and use that you feel there are no other options.

Frankly, we feel that it’s time for a divorce.

There are different kinds of Proprietary Software.

Let’s be clear, proprietary isn’t always totally closed. Consider what Salesforce has done with their developer “App exchange marketplace.” Find out more about that here.

I know, it’s confusing, right? With some Proprietary software, like Salesforce, data may be available through an API or integrations may be available to you. We’ve taken advantage of it, too. You can integrate Give with Salesforce using our Zapier Add-on.

The key question is whether or not you can export and keep your data. Can you integrate with other cloud-based services (email marketing, for example)?

Do you have control of your data? Do you own it? Can you lean into it?

Though varied nuances of opinions even exist at our shop, I feel the beauty of WordPress is control. You decide where your site is hosted. You decide which theme and plugins to use. You control features and functionality. And even if you’re not a seasoned developer, you can get to the root of your codebase. Meaning, you have access –to a very important asset to your company.

This is paramount for organizations that have a mission. In my experience, donor information and donor giving are two of the most important items in our industry. I do believe all Causes should own that information. And if it should break, Twitter isn’t the place you go for solutions. Your team can dive into the inside of your fundraising engine (the source code).

Use Case: The hidden ease of platforms.

Just yesterday, May 3, 2016, was St. Louis Gives Day (along with many others like Silicon Valley, etc.).

Unfortunately, St. Louis Gives (and nearly all that participated) had technical problems and could not receive donations on May 3. Ooops.

In response, Giving Day moved to May 4.

The St. Louis Business journal reported that phone banks had to be set up. Phone banks. Though we applaud the effort to continue the campaign, a phone bank is a far cry from online donations.

First, let me say we appreciate the attempt to build platforms that help others change the world. It isn’t as easy as it may seem to accept payments online. In fact, it’s a very difficult job to code this stuff.

The difference:

With open source software like WordPress, you are not dependent on an outside SaaS platform’s scalability. Your main single point of failure is with your host and the theme and plugins you choose to install. As well, with WordPress the Community is so large that you can find a solid developer quickly or already have one ready to handle any unforeseen issues.

Likely, we’re talking tens of millions of dollars of lost cash because there was no “developer community involved” and Kimbia is a Proprietary system that is “locked down.”

Bless Kimbia (the software that didn’t work on May 3rd) and though they may not necessarily be fully closed, it’s quite the basket for any organization to put all their operational eggs in.

Kimbia explained what happened and we understand that things go wrong. You cannot possibly test for every scenario.

“Yet, the past 10 hours have been some of the most painful of our lives. We have let you down, the people we serve. We do not take any of your comments and concerns lightly, and we will work tirelessly to earn back your trust in our capabilities. We understand the frustration this day has caused and it is our sincere hope that people will rally together to continue to show love and support to their favorite nonprofits all over the nation.”

Again, we applaud their heartfelt post reaching out to their community with an apology and explanation. As software developers ourselves who take pride in support, we empathize. But from a strategic standpoint for your nonprofit organization, it may be too little too late.

Go back to “Sleeping with the Enemy” and you’ll realize that even the most heartfelt apologies and expensive gifts don’t always result in a behavior change or betterment of life for the spouse. Honestly, you shouldn’t have to plot your escape from these types of systems.

The bottom line is this: Who is in control?

Your organization or another technology company?

Who controls your data? Who controls your donations?

Who controls the server? You? Or your platform?

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