The Web Economy

Programme

This is a module part of the Open Source ERP/Executive Masters course conducted by a private university.

Course Module

The Web Economy - Its Era and Impact to Open Source, A Practical Approach.

Open Source is a result of an online community that heavily depends on the Web's space of freely available tools and applications. It is also maturing with lots of anchor domains and ready and new audiences. The Web is also home to many commercial entities and interests crouching into the advantage and territory of Open Source. We have to grasp and appreciate as well as understand some of the forces that shape its form and strategy and importantly its future direction in order to thrive optimally.

Objectives

The objectives of this module are:

• To explore the impact of the explosive Web and Open Source on certain economies, its trends, and business software development
• To provide important exposure and skills in web social engineering for Open Source ERP (OS ERP)
• To grasp the rules of creating a self-sustaining web presence.
• To prepare for practical work during the technical subjects of software development and project management

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this module the students shall be able to:

• Understand and explain the importance of the Web in the new economy of evolving business applications versus the old.
• Create their web presence among the community and evolve their area of focus.
• Manage on a survival basis the various web tools such as IRC, Forums, Wiki and other portalised mediums.
• Conduct themselves confidently online among the community with adherence to basic etiquette.
• Calculate and debate the viable cost/benefit option among various choices and opinions when choosing a software.

Synopsis

This module is an important foundation that will govern the students' behaviour in been a future and successful Open Source ERP practitioner. Critical understanding of the principles that ensure better and faster evolving of a software product and knowledge base versus the traditional version. Among the subject matters covered are how software development is affected by Open Source, its pros and cons, community open source versus commercial open source, Total Cost of Ownerships, and critical issues facing users of OS ERP.

Course Details

This course module comprises of the following 33 chapters grouped according to major areas of interest.

What is The Web?

(20 hrs)

• Consequences of the Web on global economy and human behaviour
  • ^1 - The Web is The Computer. This topic exposes the impact of the web on the desktop environment, making it borderless as if it is in the same room.
  • ^2 - The Web Changes Everything. This topic goes further to see how the web transforms both social and economic activity.
  • ^3 - Attention Economy. This topic explains the main constraint upon the users and thus how it is used in determining a web based economic or social model.
• Various Models of Web Economies
  • ^4 - Traffic is King. This topic explains how some models assume that traffic is a sole determinant of success.
  • ^5 - Content is King. This topic explains how content can determine user behaviour.
  • ^6 - Community is King. This topic regards a political view that there must be leadership in the chaotic web.
• Reinventing Yourself On The Web
  • ^7 - Email and Mailing Lists. This topic looks at Email as a killer app that is ubiquitous to all users.
  • ^8 - Forums and Blogs. This topic looks at how buletin boards has become a cornerstone in web social activity.
  • ^9 - Second Life. This topic looks at to what extent can the web displaces real social activity and experience.

The Cathedral and The Bazaar

When Linux and Apache began to make an impact and serious challenge to proprietary software, it revolutionises the way software development is thought to be done.

However there are still difference of opinion as to what are the right ingredients to ensure quality software in the end.

There is also the question of priority, of which comes first - something good enough to kick-start the whole process, or the community that is expert enough to improve it.

(15 hrs)

• ^10 - Brief History of Open Source - How Software Development Was Originally Done. This topic allows the student to know the truth about the way software was learnt and evolved among the learning fraternity.
• ^11 - Linus vs Tannenbaum - Why Releasing Early is Better Than Releasing Better. This topic examines the context behind Linux's success from the creators' points of views.
• ^12 - Bazaar Culture and Policy - Why Giving Away Is Something Good. This topic examines some salient learning points in the famous Eric Raymond's article.
• ^13 - Microsoft vs The World - Dynamics of an Eco-system. This topic looks at how proprietary software is hitting back with their own version of Open Source Software and how it can impact the users and their adoption.

Getting Online and Staying Online

The basic criteria for participating in the web economy is to get online and staying online.

There are contemporary tools and tactics that gets you there.

Note that such tools and manners may change in the fast paced web economy.

Here you get to learn and use them hands-on within a live project.

(20hrs)

• ^14 - Critical Tools and Skills. This topic brings the student to practice the tools needed to create their online presence.
• ^15 - Levels of Participation. This topic looks at the constraints and ways users stay online and in touch.
• ^16 - Social Engineering. This topic looks at a sensitive subject on how to become acceptable and effective in a virtual world.

Total Cost of Ownership

A cost table of aquiring a product today goes beyond just the starting price of the product.

It involves learning how to use and keep it in use.

Ease of use and negligible operational impact scores high earnings to a user.

(15 hrs)

• ^17 - Why isn't everyone using Linux? This topic looks at how TCO is influencing the adoption equation by users.
• ^18 - Costs of Gaps. This topic looks further at how each gap may cost differently in real terms.
• ^19 - TCO Pyramid. This topic introduces the comparison model of TCOs.
• ^20 - TCO Strategy. This topic looks at various ways to approach a long term effectiveness in closing TCO gaps.

Web for Business

The web is the new explosive medium to do business

It has and shall continue to reinvent or create new wealth.

It is like the Wild Wild West all over again.

(15 hrs)

• ^21 - Branding philosophy. This topic looks at the importance of branding in a borderless web.
• ^22 - Marketshare and Mindshare. This topic looks at how to achieve territory in a virtual world.
• ^23 - Collaborative Community. This topic looks at how a virulent community can help market and brand a project.
• ^24 - Seeking a Niche. This topic looks at the need to seek a segment and niche well among the players.
• ^25 - Positioning and Aligning. This topic looks at more advanced scenarios of evolving more effectively among players.

Contemporary Open Source

Open Source hsa attracted alot of commercial interest

There is great effort to create lucrative models out of it

Can a true Open Source project survive in the long term?

(20 hrs)

• ^26 - Licensing & Business Models. This topic looks at the licensing types in use by FOSS projects and products.
• ^27 - Community OS vs Commercial OS. This topic looks at how Open Source is now divided between such issues.
• ^28 - Business As Usual. This topic looks at how business profiteering comes into play in FOSS projects.
• ^29 - Institutionalising Open Source. This topic looks at the important role institutions might play in such FOSS projects.

Next Generation

Open Source only furthers technology itself in disruptive ways.

There can be convergence of previous technologies or completely new unexpected areas.

When tools and reference source becomes readily available, a bottom up revolution of innovation can spring easily.

(15 hrs)

• ^30 - Era of Convergence. This topic explains to the student how various applications are converging on a singular window of experience for the users.
• ^31 - Google-ERP - The Single Window. This topic shows how an ubiquitous application may become everything to everyone.
• ^32 - IPhone-ERP - Sensory Computing. This topic looks at a particular scenario where the phone may be the window of experience in the web economy.
• ^33 - Universal Supply Chain. This topic looks at the future of web-based ERP where all players and products are in a common cloud of interdependent activity.

Prior Knowledge

This course module assumes no prior technical knowledge by the students. Of course it assumes the students possess a deep interest in such subjects and are willing to read up extensively around the subjects. It is because some concepts are difficult to grasp as they are still very new and evolving at the same time.

Further Reading

• Innovation Happens Elsewhere
• Weath of Networks
• Linus vs Tanenbaum
• Cathedral and the Bazaar
• Sociosite
• IT Investment Research
• Economics of Open Source
• SME Potential in Asia Pacific
• Lurker Culture