Glyptodon Remote ACCess is for faculty and staff only with a need to access work related computers and systems from outside the Alamance Community College Campus.
Full Answer
What is Glyptodon's core value?
Every business must answer the question-what is the thing of value to offer that customers will pay for? Businesses built on open source software face additional questions around how they simultaneously serve free users while still building a customer base.
The open source product model
One of my favorite reference points for building a business on open source software is Red Hat, and how they built out a model for commercial solutions that sell, while still supporting the upstream communities that sustain the technology innovation. As a long-time proponent of this model, I'm happy to report that it is gaining traction elsewhere.
Create a commercial product
One of the key decisions to make in this process is where the open source project begins and ends, and where the commercial product picks up.
So what happened?
The results have been an unqualified success. The assumptions Glyptodon made above have proven to be valid and the business sustainable and growing. Customers don't care where the software comes from; they just want a solution that works.
The COVID effect
It would be disingenuous to discuss Glyptodon's success without mentioning that remote access software, like Glyptodon Enterprise, has seen a surge ever since remote working due to quarantine became part of the story starting in March 2020.
Conclusion: yes, you can sell open source software
Every business model has its tradeoffs, with pros and cons. In the case of Glyptodon, they made a bet that they could build a viable commercial brand with 100% open source software. That bet has paid off, and it has allowed the Glyptodon founders to build a business without outside funding.
Attribution
About the author - John Mark Walker is the Director of Capital One's Open Source Program Office and a long-time open source community, product, and strategy expert. He founded the Open Source Enterprise Network (OSEN) and is an advisor for Glyptodon, Inc. Follow his adventures and escapades on Twitter at @jm_stuff. For OSEN updates, ... More