OSS and the Call for Professional Support

Not too long ago, proprietary software ruled the roost when it came to websites. If you wanted to publish any kind of content online, then you used programs like Dreamweaver. Then along came open source software (OSS). Has this knocked proprietary software off its perch? OSS certainly quickly became a major threat to the commercial software industry, and radically transformed the software landscape. Today, OSS is firmly perched on the roost. Too?

The explosive growth of open source content management systems was driven by communities of dedicated developers. In becoming more and more popular, new opportunities arose. And so did enormous challenges.

As the user base grew, the pressures on open source helped shape many improvements. TYPO3 was open sourced back in 2001, with user-friendly content management features to build highly customized websites. These features made TYPO3 CMS particularly appealing to businesses right from the start.

Ten years later this enterprises were “increasingly including open source software in their technology portfolio.” TYPO3 CMS was frequently shortlisted, and today TYPO3 CMS is a system relied upon by numerous DAX-50 companies.

Enterprises CMSs need to take into account security, data, usability, and more to meet compliance and requirements of larger organizations. They need experts and reliable support SLAs.

Last year, the community and the TYPO3 Association heeded this call. They joined forces to found a commercial arm of the project: TYPO3 GmbH, that’s us. :-) With our powers combined, we’re able to create bigger and better things. And we’re able to provide support and services.

When communities of software developers think about “support” they’re likely to mean a forum or mailing-list where questions can be asked, e.g. how to implement a specific feature. Now, when businesses think about support, they’re likely to be thinking along somewhat different lines!

What is good service? Is it to do with high standards? Is it about good customer relationships, reliable advice, and trust? Is it about creating award winning work? At TYPO3 GmbH, we know that it’s all that and much more. Our services include:

• Sharing knowledge - send us your junior developer for on-the-job training.
  He or she will learn ever so much by working together with our experienced team and get a good insight into everyday working procedures within the TYPO3 core.

• We offer Extended Long-Term-Support (ELTS) for older versions of TYPO3 CMS.
  ELTS is available for the most recent unsupported LTS version (currently version 6). Once TYPO3 CMS 9 LTS is released in October 2018, ELTS for version 7 will begin and ELTS for version 6 will wind down six months after that in March 2019.

• We provide a TYPO3 Service Level Agreement (SLA).
  We maintain your installation in close collaboration with your digital agency and/or your IT-team to provide you with the best possible service and a smoothly running system.

• TYPO3 Partner Program
  Get highly qualified TYPO3 experts for your projects. Members of this program have proven both their expertise as well their participation in the TYPO3 project.

• TYPO3 Project Reviews
  If the going gets tough, you can take us on board as third-party experts to help find the best solution.

• Every year we are actively involved in all of the many TYPO3 community events.
  Conferences, barcamps, user groups - you name it, we’re there.

Open source is the future. IT solutions are increasingly built on open source infrastructure, be it web, mobile, or cloud. There are many good reasons to use OSS, having the option of professional support is now one of them!

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