Posted by Lori Ayre on August 3, 2011

I just read a good article on Motionbuzz.com called Control vs. Responsibility: How to choose the best software for your business.  The author is addressing the issues around choosing open source or closed source software and hosting it yourself versus using the vendor for hosting. 

As he says below...the option that makes the most sense for you will depend on you or your organizations need for control and the level of responsibility you are equipped to take on.

The best choice for you "depends on your requirements, budget, and how you feel about Control and Responsibility. Responsibility can be expensive. Can you afford to pay a team to plan, design, code, test, and continuously support your software? Do you have a realistic budget and time frame? Is the control worth the responsibility? If the answer is yes, then go with self-hosted custom software or self-hosted open source software. If the answer is no, then you should consider SaaS. I don't recommend closed-source, self-hosted software at all. Closed source reduces your control over software, so if you go that route, then you might as well go with SaaS and be relieved of the responsibility of hosting."

Good advice.  And I like the chart too.