eCommerce: The Hosted Solution vs Open Source
Do you know the difference?
Open Source means the software that is your online store was free to use and you can maintain your store online for a small monthly hosting fee. A Hosted Solution means you could be paying anywhere from $20 to $100 a month, depending on the size of your store, but you get reliability, support and security – three extremely important factors in an eCommerce web site.
When your site is up and running with everything working just the way you like it, with all your software up to date, shopping cart working perfectly and all the basics are fresh in your mind and your developer is just a phone call away then it hardly matters which one you choose. It’s all good.
Really? Don’t be fooled.
I am a business person and have had a career as an inventor of technical things. I have had 30 employees and 0 employees and I am very self reliant.
For the last three years I have run my wife’s online store through the Volusion eCommerce hosted solution. During that time I have come to appreciate the value of ever present tech support and an easy-to-use system.
To me, the biggest difference in a hosted solution versus open source as a business person is your independence. One could think at first look that you might be giving up something in going the hosted solution route but I say, “No way”! It is the path to freedom for the small or medium size business. It will help you be effective managing your website and stay sane while you’re doing it.
We have heard many times the sage advice to never keep your eggs all in one basket.
When you have yourself, or a small development team, or a single individual developing and managing your website you are violating that sage advice.
At 21thirteen design you can depend on us but we are convinced that you deserve and actually need your independence. When you let great companies like Volusion and Big Commerce be your service provider you are buying much more than insurance against the hazard of small time developers who might save you $30 per month in a hosting fee and cost you thousands in frustration or non- compliance liability problems.
Today this is my favorite topic. I’ll be writing more about it and welcome your comments and especially your call to get you started on the right foot in eCommerce.
