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Open Source, Web 2.0 Gain Appeal As IT Budgets Shrink

With about 245 stores, three warehouses, 20,000-plus employees, and a trucking fleet as part of a multi-billion-dollar grocery operation, Modesto, Calif.-based Save Mart has discovered that where it made a shift to open-source software for databases, operating systems and network management, it lowered costs by more than half.

"Open source is profoundly less expensive,” says Sims, citing the adoption of SuSe Linux, the Ingres open-source database, MySQL, and Hobbit open-source monitoring as changes that contributed to over 50% in IT savings in comparison to the proprietary software from Oracle, Microsoft Windows or HP OpenView that was replaced.

Open source “is free but we do pay for support and services,” Sim’s points out, noting that Save Mart has established vendor alliances with Novell, Red Hat and Ingres to support open-source software the grocery retailer uses.

Save Mart’s first experience with the Ingres open-source database came when it acquired grocery stores from Albertsons about two years ago, and because the acquisition didn’t include software licenses, the decision was made to try the Ingres open-source database.

At the time, it was viewed as a bit radical to make this shift, but Save Mart has had such a positive experience, it’s now likely to migrate away from Oracle’s database which it uses elsewhere, if only because Oracle has turned out to be “one of the worst business partners we’ve had” because of abysmal service and support, says Sims.

“We get better service and support with open-source and Ingres than with Oracle,” says Sims, with about one-quarter of the overall costs.

Every little bit helps in the grocery business, where profit margins are razor-thin, Sims notes. A shift towards open source also means that Save Mart puts more value on IT staff with interest and skills in Linux and open source.