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For decades vendor lock-in has been one of the fears that businesses, large and small, have faced. The problem frequently occurs when a company invests a great deal of money in a proprietary software product that only one vendor develops and supports. As long as the company intends to keep using the software and paying for support, it must go through the same vendor.

Problems arise when the company becomes unsatisfied with the vendor or simply wants to switch to another software package with better features or lower cost. Suddenly, your IT people realize that everything, including all of your data, is locked in a proprietary system that the vendor will not reveal to you. Moreover, if that vendor stops supporting the software or even goes out of business, you have no way of recovering your data.

Cloud computing has eliminated many problems related to software vendors, but the problem of vendor lock-in persists. In fact, one could argue that it may even be worse with cloud systems since the vendor keeps all of your data on their servers. There are, however, some practical ways to avoid cloud vendor lock-in.

1. Use an open cloud platform – The strength of the cloud is that the provider offers its data center facilities, IT expertise, maintenance, and tech support. The software itself is not necessarily any better than the alternatives. Therefore, using open software does no damage to the provider but helps the customer.
2. Have a backup plan – Some cloud providers will actually send you physical disks with your data on them, upon your request. Others may even give you access to off-site backups that you control. Keep your options open, and always prepare for the worst.

Ultimately, your business and your data is and always will be yours. Make sure you do not sign it away to anyone else, even a cloud provider you trust. Play smart and keep your investments safe.

How to Avoid Cloud Vendor Lock-in

Cloud computing and other cloud-related words are the talk of the IT world right now. Businesses frequently flirt with the concept, but some shy away from the cloud when they consider the perceived security weaknesses. According to a CSO survey, business executives are reluctant to jump into the cloud because they feel as though they do not understand cloud security.

The basic assumption about cloud computing is that it inherently invites the same security problems that any form of web hosting would, while also leaving you at the mercy and whims of the cloud service provider. Both are true. With cloud computing, your platform and/or services are hosted, and your service provider ultimately controls the strength of the system’s security. Because of that reality, the security strength you enjoy differs from one service provider to another.

Cloud computing has attracted millions of users in consumer and enterprise markets, which means that people all over the world use the cloud every day at work and at home. Despite its ubiquity, the cloud is still relatively unregulated, leaving it up to the service provider to determine the quality and safety of the available services. This has prompted some policy makers to call for worldwide cloud security regulations, something that would require government consensus and service provider compliance.

Ultimately, it is up to you to determine if a cloud service provider has secure data centers, servers, and software. That requires investigation of the services and research about the technology the providers use. Just as you would research the security of commercial software, so too must you evaluate cloud software based on similar standards.

How Secure Is Cloud Hosting?

When some people think of ecommerce, they tend to imagine paying a big vendor huge licensing fees to create a storefront for their business. As a result, some small businesses may even avoid ecommerce altogether or only sell through a third-party online marketplace.

Open source ecommerce applications are affordable and provide you with the freedom to modify the software to fit your business needs.

Magento

Magento is a big name in ecommerce for both its commercial and community editions. Numerous major names rely on Magento, such as Nokia, Samsung, and Fox.

OS Commerce

OS Commerce is one of the oldest and most trusted open source shopping carts. Many web hosts will install it for free, and you can have a storefront up and running pretty quickly.

PrestaShop

PrestaShop adds a lot of style and features that you may not find in some of the smaller open source shopping carts. Its website includes a marketplace for templates and add-ons.

ZeusCart

ZeusCart is strongly community-driven and focuses on providing functionality and keeping up with current web standards for quality ecommerce. Among those modern features is the ability to sell digital product downloads.

Ubercart

Ubercart is designed with the high-tech business in mind. While you can use it to sell physical products, it also includes support for file downloads, event registrations, premium site access, and virtual economies.

All of these open source ecommerce solutions support a wide variety of payment gateways and software add-ons. Each has unique features that may make it more appealing for your specific business. You may also want to choose one based on the ease of its installation or one that your web host will install for you. Some of them also offer commercial services for those who need professional installation and/or support.

5 Open Source Ecommerce Apps

Many people new to web hosting may have the perception that having a website for their business necessarily indicates that they need business hosting or ecommerce hosting. As a result, they often pay more for hosting even when they may not need it. There are plenty of situations where ecommerce hosting is absolutely necessary, but you should first understand what it is and be able to determine if your website needs it.

Ecommerce hosting is no different from regular hosting on the surface. What it provides are added services that are designed to make hosting easier for conducting ecommerce. In other words, it aids in the buying and selling products on the Internet. Therefore, ecommerce hosting is great if you are creating an online store and/or plan to store customer data on your server (requiring encryption).

If you do not have an online storefront and simply want to display your business’ information on the web, ecommerce hosting may be superfluous. Furthermore, even if you are selling something, such as subscriptions to your site or advertisements for your content, ecommerce hosting may not add anything you need to your hosting experience.

There are, however, instances when you might want to get ecommerce hosting even if you do not have an online store. Some web hosts may add useful SEO or business optimization tools to their ecommerce hosting packages, which adds value for people who may just want to monetize content-based websites. Moreover, your business may not have an online store now but may get one in the near future. If the cost of ecommerce hosting is not much greater than regular hosting, it may be worth it to go ahead and get it or make sure your host offers an upgrade path.

Does Your Website Need Ecommerce Hosting?

The traditional model for business applications are either locally-installed software on individual machines or local client software that accesses server-installed applications. In both instances, the user machine is required to have specific software installed to make the applications run. To run applications completely in the cloud is an old concept with a new name, but it is gaining popularity.

Most cloud applications run inside web browsers. That means the user does not need anything extraordinary installed, and any device with a browser can have access to all the business applications the user needs to work. Browser-based applications have been around for quite a while, but web technology has advanced significantly in the past ten years, greatly increasing the ability of developers to deliver web apps that feel like desktop apps.

The current cloud technology requires the user to work and also save data in the cloud, but this will eventually change, as HTML5 will also give users the option for local storage. This makes it easier for users to pick up right where they left off, even after closing the browser window accidentally.

In the case of public clouds, the application remains in the hands of the provider. The user does not have to worry about maintenance, upgrades, or any backend issues. It also means that the provider has total control and may use proprietary data storage or other methods that might make it difficult to migrate to another system.

In a private cloud, the business has an exclusive server (either remote or local) that hosts its web applications. The provider may still have ultimate control over the applications, but this is not a necessary requirement. Some businesses may prefer this, especially if the provider allows for more customization.

Running Your Applications in the Cloud

Your business is your livelihood, and if that business is online, your web presence must be strong and reflect the image you want for it.  Therefore, it is always bad news when an ecommerce website suffers from technical glitches or even outright negligence on the part of its creators.  The following are a few blunders you should avoid.

1. Technical exclusion – These are the websites that require users to have certain technical credentials.  Insisting that your site’s visitors have a certain browser, a proprietary plugin, a particular operating system, or any other inconvenient technology is a good way to make sure they do not revisit.
2. Untrusted certificate – Having no SSL certificate may be bad enough, but it will really hurt your business to have an expired or otherwise invalid certificate.  Some browsers, such as Google Chrome, really freak out and display a nice scary red page before users can even access your site.  Many customers will simply move on to your competitors.
3. Complexity – This can take many forms, such as a complex menu navigation system that requires several steps to reach a desired page, popups that interfere with user tasks, and large images or other media that slow the website’s load time.
4. Forced social media integration – While it is cute and sometimes even useful to have social media integration, requiring a user to have Facebook or Twitter accounts to buy your products is simply absurd.

If you can manage to avoid these huge mistakes and a few others, you will already have a leg up on the competition.  Treat your Ecommerce website just like a physical store front.  Sticking a picture of something offensive in the window will scare customers away, and the same is true for your website, even if it is only a technical mistake.

Technical Blunders in Ecommerce Hosting

When you start an ecommerce site, one of the first features you will want to consider is SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) or TLS (Transport Layer Security).  For a website, SSL allows the site administrator to serve pages over a secure protocol (HTTPS rather than HTTP).  It is likely you already use websites that run exclusively with HTTPS, such as your bank’s website.

For your ecommerce hosting, the use of SSL largely depends on the type of business you have and the functions your website will serve.  For example, if you intend to have an online store that collects information about your customers, such as their names, addresses, credit card numbers, and more, SSL is a must.  Many users will not trust your site if they do not see the HTTPS in the address bar and a valid SSL certificate associated with it.

Some companies use their website only as the frontend of the store, while all transactions are actually handled by a third-party payment processor, which uses SSL encryption on its own site.  In this scenario, you may be able to get away without having SSL, but you may still want it if you collect other user data, such as names and email addresses, even if no financial information is given.  For sites that only provide contact information for your business, SSL is likely unnecessary.

If you do decide to go with SSL, you will need to make sure your web hosting company offers an ecommerce package or a package that gives you an IP address for SSL.  You will also need to purchase an SSL certificate, something your host may also provide as part of an ecommerce hosting package.

Is SSL Necessary for Ecommerce Hosting?

When you start an ecommerce site, one of the first features you will want to consider is SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) or TLS (Transport Layer Security).  For a website, SSL allows the site administrator to serve pages over a secure protocol (HTTPS rather than HTTP).  It is likely you already use websites that run exclusively with HTTPS, such as your bank’s website.

For your ecommerce hosting, the use of SSL largely depends on the type of business you have and the functions your website will serve.  For example, if you intend to have an online store that collects information about your customers, such as their names, addresses, credit card numbers, and more, SSL is a must.  Many users will not trust your site if they do not see the HTTPS in the address bar and a valid SSL certificate associated with it.

Some companies use their website only as the frontend of the store, while all transactions are actually handled by a third-party payment processor, which uses SSL encryption on its own site.  In this scenario, you may be able to get away without having SSL, but you may still want it if you collect other user data, such as names and email addresses, even if no financial information is given.  For sites that only provide contact information for your business, SSL is likely unnecessary.

If you do decide to go with SSL, you will need to make sure your web hosting company offers an ecommerce package or a package that gives you an IP address for SSL.  You will also need to purchase an SSL certificate, something your host may also provide as part of an ecommerce hosting package.

Is SSL Necessary for Ecommerce Hosting?

When the budget and resources are just right, you might create your own e-commerce web application and be very content.  In most situations, however, you will need to shop around for one that is both affordable within your budget and packed with the features you need to be successful.

Free ecommerce (or e-commerce) software, in this case, is software you do not have to pay to use.  It may be open source or freeware, but the common theme is that you do not pay for it.  Commercial software may also still be open source but usually comes with some type of support package and premium features.

Advantages

• It is free.  When you are starting any business, it is nice to be able to put a “0” in the expense column for anything.
• If you choose a popular one, especially one that is open source, there will usually be a knowledgeable community that can help you learn it and customize it to fit your needs.
• Because there is no initial cost or renewal costs, it is not a huge loss if you decide to leave it and go to something else.
• If your web host offers ecommerce hosting, it may install the free software for you without any additional cost.

Disadvantages

• Inevitably, there will be some technical expertise required to install it and implement it within your business.  If you do not already have a tech staff in place, this creates a hidden cost.
• With no technical support, you are on your own when something does not work correctly.  You may be able to pay a third party for support, but that again creates a hidden cost.

When it comes to ecommerce applications, you are likely dealing with your livelihood: your business.  As with any business decision, you need to weigh the consequences when adopting new technology and also consider the total cost of ownership.  Depending on your situation, you may find a free ecommerce solution to be ideal, or you may opt for a commercial product.

Benefits of and Disadvantages of Free ECommerce Software

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