It all comes down to cost. The cost versus benefit formula for these businesses has always been a complicated dilemma; too much investment is a financial overkill while low-budget solutions tend to be under-engineered and can easily become useless. Is there a way out?

Cost saving starts by relying on open solutions which are based on industry standards from the Open Source community away from license-based systems. Such open solutions bring technology which has been traditionally restricted to large enterprises to all organisations with limited budgets. It's about mainstreaming technology and making it in the public domain.

The real world has demonstrated that innovation come from the Internet and from high-tech start-up companies. Working with these companies, you are reassured that you are using the best and latest technology at an attractive price point.

Protecting your investment for the future is key to any technology deployment. You want to ensure that it can scale as your business grows and that you will not be required to do forklift upgrades (i.e. throw away all investment and start all over).