Case Study: Fast, Simple Open-Source IT
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| Zappos doesn't make its own shoes, but it does make its own software.
| The company's 15-person development group--Zappos employs about 1,000
| total--has actually built the majority of the systems that run the
| retailer's business, relying largely on open-source software such as
| Linux, MySQL, Apache and PERL. That includes the Web site itself,
| the company's warehouse management system, customer service and
| merchandising planning tools, and the extranet available to thec
| ompany's vendors. The main reason: flexibility. "We like the ability
| to make changes on a daily basis," says Hsieh. "We don't roll out a
| new version of X, Y or Z every quarter. We do it incrementally."
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| Staying open source has offered a number of other advantages to the
| company's development team, according to Athan. For starters, he says,
| he's able to solve coding issues a lot faster than he otherwise might
| with commercial software. "You can do a Google search or go to a
| message board and get an answer to a coding problem instantly, rather
| than waiting for some vendor rep to call," he says. More important,
| with the company growing at such a rapid clip, Athan and his team
| are able to add both servers and people without having to worry
| about getting additional licenses.
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http://www.cioinsight.com/article2/0,1540,2055764,00.asp
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