Open CC, open source and open standards

Here at Open Creative Communications, it might not surprise you to know that we are firm believers in the advantages of open source technologies. But what does that mean?

 

To us, open source is a philosophy. Instead of wasting resources building something from the ground up using expensive technologies, we tap into the worldwide open source community for proven technologies; these form the stable platform on which we build products.This allows us to focus our attention on producing the best possible results for our clients.

 

 

It has the added advantage of being fast to adapt. (Remember how long it takes for Microsoft to fix security problems with Internet Explorer? You don't get these problems with Firefox - because the open source community is huge and moves quickly).

 

Of course, it's not all take, take, take. Any improvements we make to the code are put back into the community; but our clients hold the licence for anything we make.

 

 

Will competitors be able to copy your product?

No. If we build in open source we only give back code that's generic, so your secrets are safe with us.

 

 

Will there be any difference in the look of a website built on open source technology?

No. It's all stuff that goes on under the bonnet.

 

 

If it's under the bonnet, why should I care?

It makes a difference because we pass on the advantages to our clients:

         - Reduced costs

         - More stable

         - Quicker to fix

         - Better-supported

         - Better interoperability on different platforms

 

 

Do we exclusively work in open source technology?

No - often our clients already have a specific platform that they use, and many of our projects are built in Microsoft's .NET and .ASP. It's all about choosing the right technology for the right application.

 

What are open standards?

Open standards are freely accessible web standards that ensure quality, safety and interoperability across the web. So if we make you a website, it won't just work on one platform, but across all the major browsers. It will conform to best practice accessibility, usability and coding standards.

Content Management Systems for real people

In the noughties, Content Management Systems (or CMSs) were complex databases used primarily by web developers. They were usually found in large, labyrinthine websites with tens, or even hundreds, of pages of content.

 

Nowadays, any website worth its salt is powered by a CMS. Why should you have to pay an agency or developer every time you want to update your website? You shouldn't - even small websites need updating both to stay high up in search rankings and to stay relevant and engaging to their target audience.

 

The majority of our clients' websites are powered by a CMS called SilverStripe, which we release to the client at the same time as delivering the site, allowing them to change all text and images easily and at no additional cost. Our clients often tell us that this is the simplest, most powerful CMS they have seen.

 

If they hadn't seen a CMS they are often find SilverStripe demystifies the term "CMS", because it's just so easy to use. Anyone who can use MS Office can use SilverStripe.

 

SilverStripe also comes with built-in modules for common functions: an e-commerce module, or a blog module for example. This means we can offer our clients powerful websites at a fraction of the cost of some other agencies.

 

Why take our word for it though? In addition to the site you're looking at right now, the following sites are all built in SilverStripe and kept updated by our clients:

 

Hodder - Practise Every Question (marketing site)

Clifton Hotels

 

Like what you see? Get in touch and we'd be happy to give you a quote.

Databases get us excited

You might consider databases to be rather dry. To us, they are our lifeblood and we lie awake at night, most nights, thinking about them. Why? Because data is king and a good database can be the success or failure of any project. Data is valuable and needs to be protected, accessible to those that need access, scalable where growth is anticipated, robust where usage is high, and flexible wherever future change is likely.

 

Our preferred solution is MySQL databases, as they are:

 

Cross-platform

We can develop them on a vast array of different platforms and deploy virtually anywhere - giving you the client flexibility as to hardware, which in turn helps reduce hosting and maintenance costs.

 

Fast

We live in an age where waiting for pages to load just isn't the thing. Independent studies have shown MySQL as a top performer in a group that included ASE, Oracle, ASA and SQL Server 2000. In other words, at a lower cost we can offer performance that rivals expensive enterprise level systems.

 

Stable

Because no one likes to see "Connection to Database Failed". Especially not us.

 

Cheap

Compared to the enterprise level systems that require licensing, we can offer clients comparable databases at a fraction of the cost.

 

Do we only use MySQL?

No, we don't. As with everything, the technology must be mapped to the specific requirements, and we have experience using a number of different databases. We will always fully analyse your requirements before settling on the technical approach that's best for you.

We are agile

We don't believe that there is only one way to deliver a project.

 

Sometimes our clients come to us with a very clear idea of what they want. This is lovely, because we can go about suggesting the best way to build the product, slip in a few improvements where we can, draw up thorough documentation and just get going. Next time we see our client we have delivered everything, beautifully, exactly as discussed.

 

This is how traditional development ideally works out. Often though, our clients want the flexibility to see "staged" demonstrations of work in progress. We provide them with time to review where we are at set points along the way, and often make changes or improvements to the technical build as we go along. This is what is known as an agile approach to technical builds, and can be used to great effect when delivering complex projects over a period of time. It ensures that the end product is the best that it can possibly be, and ensures we work closely with the client, approaching changes to the original scope of the project with an open mind. Because change happens.

 

When we meet to discuss your requirements, we'll work out the best technical build approach for you.