Enterprise software companies now offering 'freemium' editions of apps

Not only is open source being adopted by more enterprise software vendors, we're also seeing increased use of free trial software

Last week at Oracle OpenWorld I caught up briefly with IDS Scheer, a longtime enterprise software company in the business process modeling (BPM) business. Its flagship product ARIS has been around since the mid-1980s, and it's regarded as a pioneer in this category. While there are some open source tools in the BPM market, the real competition is often simplistic drawing tools, like Visio, that are prodded into doing something for which they weren't intended. IDS Scheer had one of its customers, True Religion, explaining how it uses ARIS to integrate Oracle applications and business processes with SQL Server installations. (Oracle, SAP, and Microsoft resell ARIS under their own brands.)

The challenge in any new category of software is getting people to try it. This is one area where open source software traditionally has enjoyed an advantage. After all, developers can download the software, put it through its paces, and often go into production without ever having to talk to a sales rep.

[ Also on InfoWorld: "Open source vendors should focus on value and price" | Stay up to speed with the open source community with InfoWorld's Technology: Open Source newsletter. ]

Not surprisingly, closed source software companies have come out with a plethora of "express editions" -- a trial version of their software for developers. Typically, these are limited in their functionality, though still useful in their own right. Some companies take it too far and release crippleware, but that's a separate story. Though I don't think that express editions provide the same freedom and power as open source, I believe they are leveraging the same model of free distribution to reduce friction and accelerate adoption.

IDS Scheer has its own ARIS Express Edition written in Java and freely available at its community site. It's a good way to get started in BPM and to try out some of the techniques. For old-school companies, the so-called freemium model be the best way to stay relevant to developers who are being indoctrinated with the open source "download and try it" approach.

This story, "Enterprise software companies now offering 'freemium' editions of apps," was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Follow the latest developments in open source at InfoWorld.com.

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