Digital Doha Summit - ICT Qatar and Open Source

Confessions of aRecovering ProprietySoftware User PURPOSE PIXELS WITHJune 2012

A web designer’s worst nightmareSource:www.theoatmeal.com

Here it comes…Source:www.theoatmeal.com

Source:www.theoatmeal.com

Where We Were•  Proprietary CMS developed in 2007•  Same CMS used 2007-2010 – we were stuck•  Expensive updates and upgrades•  Fewer developers able to work on the CMS•  Declining usability, accessibility

Source: Flickr, L.Marie

All that we wanted to be:•  Leaders in ICT – setting the trends in Qatar•  Constituent focused – user friendly and accessible•  Agile and flexible•  Less reliant on consultants – build in- house capacity•  BUT also secure and Source: Flickr, â–“â–’â–‘ TORLEY â–‘â–’â–“ resilient

The Solution: Open Source and Drupal •  No vendor lock-in •  A larger pool of designers and developers – and ones we could hire! •  Built-in features that were constantly being upgraded by the community •  Ability to quickly upgrade, modernize as web trends evolve

And of course it’s for the greater good!•  Open source keeps knowledge and innovation moving forward•  A major contributor to the Arabic developer community•  ictQATAR is committed to growing an open source developer community in Qatar•  AND supports digital openness in general

So here we are now…

And more open source sites too!

Reflections on our experience – we arereformed (mostly)•  Overall, the migration to Drupal went fairly smoothly•  Very limited errors, “bugs” upon launch•  User feedback has been very positive•  Regular upgrades, tweaks, and modifications since – without breaking the bank•  In-house team leading many projects now•  No security breaches or issues•  Advances have been shared with the community•  AND we aren’t locked in (mostly)!

But of course there were some challenges…•  The Arabic developer community is not as developed for as other communities in both Drupal and WordPress•  Open Source can take more time – off-the-shelf is sometimes easier•  With a highly customized site, incumbent developer still has a leg up Source: Flickr Bludgeoner86

Source: Flickr, marc falardeau

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Digital Doha Summit - ICT Qatar and Open Source

by Forum One Communications on Jun 20, 2012

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