The following section outlines the most important elements of our standard Open Source Support (OSS) program for our enterprise customers.

We regularly use the open source products that we support and have developed significant expertise in all software development disciplines. As such, we are able to offer specific guidance and support for your developers and other project team members requiring assistance on topics ranging from software architecture and design to application packaging and deployment. This optional service is offered at a discounted rate as compared with our normal production support rates.

There are a growing number of enterprise-quality application servers and databases in the open source community. Our standard production support agreement covers application servers such as Apache, Tomcat, JBoss, Jetty, and Enhydra, among others. We also support several popular open source databases including MySQL and PostgreSQL.

The full open source stack has been informally labeled with the LAMP mnemonic, which stands for “Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP/Python/Perl”. We use and support these products within our own development practice and recommend them for use in the enterprise. Please contact us to inquire regarding these or any other open source products for which you would like support.

For standard (non-emergency) incidents, we will respond to any support request during our normal business hours (M-F 8-6 PT), typically within thirty minutes and guaranteed within a four-hour window. However, given the nature of production operations, we understand that you may need support any time day or night. When you report an incident through our online tracking application or call our support center hotline, you may request emergency support based on the severity of the problem. This triggers an automated dispatch for our 24x7 support team who will respond as soon as possible (guaranteed within two hours).

Web-based Incident Reporting and Tracking
Our secure online incident reporting application provides a convenient way for you to contact us at any time and request support. These requests are managed as part of your support profile and become valuable input during our annual platform review (more information below). These records are the building blocks for a long-term management and quality assurance strategy for your technology platform.

OSS Platform Review
An exclusive benefit of our unique support program is an annual report we prepare for you to help you manage your OSS investment. Our report includes significant news and release announcements for each of the open source products in your technology platform. We also review each product and give you an update straight from the project development team. Based on this information we offer planning recommendations for the coming year. We can help you determine whether to stay with a current release, or upgrade (or even replace) an aging product.

Every software product has a lifecycle that includes such key events as the initial product launch, various major and minor releases, and eventual retirement. We help you maintain the strategic investment you have made in your open source platform using a proactive portfolio management approach. As your platform ages over time, our annual review process will facilitate a proactive software lifecycle management plan.