If you know the hassle of server technology management, but still love the freedom of open source, today we have some good news for you: now you can join the freedom of open source, the power of Cloud and the flexibility of SaaS in a single solution, and still support the growth of your favourite LMS.
POSSIBLE???? Yes: we’re introducing a cloud hosting solution for Forma LMS that is changing the rules of the game.
Ok, let's be clear: Open Source is great, but digital technology is becoming every day more complex, thus mantaining an open source application is getting harder and expensive.
An LMS is a great application, but still it’s a piece of software and requires dealing with a lot of technical stuff: that's why many LMS developers in the past years abandoned Open Source and moved to some kind of SaaS solution.
Forma LMS was born and raised around a dream: another way must be possible.
In these years Forma and its community are trying to learn the lesson and create positive solutions, something that will help you forget the technology hassle, while supporting and giving sustainability to our open source project, and maintaining a pricing model specifically designed for the needs and characteristics of corporate training.
What does "Open source" mean?
Open Source is a model for software licencing and developing, based on the crazy concept that sharing ideas and knowledge with other people is just better and more convenient than struggling alone with the growing complexity of new technologies.
Well, you may think this is nerd stuff, but it just changed the world.
Exaggerating? Not really, just consider how most of our every-day digital technology was developed thanks to this model: 70% of anything on the web is based on Linux/Unix, Android reached about 80% of smartphone market share, just to say a couple.
So, Open Source is definitely an enterprise stuff, right?
What's wrong with SaaS solutions?
SaaS is a very interesting billing model: it gives sustainability to producers, and let consumers pay for what they actually get.
The bad points:
- it brings developer companies back to the old closed model of development, and this happens because SaaS companies need to protect their software.
- People lose control on the software and data they use: no more feature tailoring and customizing, and when you stop paying, you just lose it all.
SaaS itself is nothing new or interesting: it's just the old model aimed at making money without creating any real value.
That's the point:
SaaS alone is just about charging money, open source is all about creating VALUE
Is there maybe a possible model to join the good aspects of both worlds?
Introducing Forma Cloud
Forma Cloud is a dedicated cloud hosting solution for forma lms, strictly integrated with the core development process of Forma LMS: we call this model OPEN SAAS.
- Forget Technology (as in SaaS): it's won't be your problem anymore, just get on the largest cloud infrastructure in the world. Plan your training and start building your brand new digital academy, and forget the rest.
- Integrated maintenance (as in saas, but better): you get updates and bug fixes, ok, but also the code repositories for both the community and cloud releases are connected: when something is fixed or evolved in each system it can be immediately shared, and the open source code keeps growing and improving.
- Smart Pricing (as in saas): pay just for the resources you need, with a flexible system of plan customization and average active-user count specifically designed for the training industry.
- Customize it (as in Open Source): most of the saas application give you a limited set of features and addons, but we know that at some point you deserve something special. Even if it is cloud hosted, here you can still add custom features thanks to the plugin and custom scripts architecture of forma.lms.
- Participate (as in Open Source): you can still be part of the project, participate, drive the software with your requests and contributions, build your new elearning business around it, extend it with many commercial plugins or even create your own custom features.
- Own your software and data (as in Open Source): feel free to fly-in with your existing installation, and fly-out moving your code and data away if you need.
Meet Forma Cloud, a solution by
PS - Two more words: Open Innovation
The Forma Cloud model can be considered and example of “Open Innovation”: this term describes an emergent model of approach to innovation in organizations: firms draw on research and development that may lie outside their own boundaries. This new paradigm is completely changing the way companies think and apply their research and development plans, by opening to collaborations with other players. Instead of trying to manage internally the complex mix of technology evolution, marketing strategies now they prefer acquiring and sharing knowledge with external partner. This winning strategies is leading to 3 great improvements:
- Lower costs of design and production
- Less risks of design and production errors
- Faster time-to-market times
Ready to change you com'any's mindset? ;)
