Open Source Systems Applications Christopher Peckham and Miguel Rodriguez Abstract—Henry Bros. Electronics (HBE) has been de- normally reserved for copyright holders are provided under ploying a wide variety of open source systems over the a software license that permits users to study, change, and last two years. These systems touch every aspect of the improve the software [1]. A further definition of open business including sales lead tracking, time reporting, and asset management. Open source systems are also used for source software is made by the Open Source Initiative [2] the company’s internal portal and a client-facing reporting where it needs to have: free redistribution, source code engine. Some of the company’s file servers are deployed using must be included, must allow modifications and derived open source software and all of the networks and services works, integrity of the author’s source code, no discrimi- are monitored using open source. Backups and PBX services nation against persons or groups, no discrimination against are also provided using open source. The paper will discuss how the company uses open source software in these areas fields of endeavor, a single license must apply to all users, as well as plans to deploy more systems in the future. and the license must be technology-neutral. There can be advantages and disadvantages in using OSS [3, 4]. A number of these advantages are that the core I. INTRODUCTION software is free, major systems are constantly evolving, the Henry Bros. Electronics, Inc. (HBE) provides electronic base code is secure and peer-reviewed, and it allows for security systems, services, and emergency preparedness quick innovation. It also encourages a hands-on process, consultation to commercial enterprises and government flexible technology, and users are not tied to a single agencies in the United States. It offers design, installation, vendor. There are also some disadvantages in using OSS. and support services for various perimeter protection, There can be a learning curve and lack of support for some surveillance and communications control systems, such projects. Projects die due the development team losing as access control, intrusion alarms and closed circuit interest or team dynamics. Support on many packages can television. The company’s services include consulting and be difficult to obtain. While forums can provide a wide planning, engineering and design, systems installation and range of support, many questions are not addressed. Pack- management, systems training and maintenance and tech- age management and version control can be difficult to nical support. HBE also provides emergency preparedness address as well if systems are not upgraded and managed planning services, which include demonstrations, training, over time. and recommendations, to commercial real estate owners The total cost of ownership of OSS is open for in- and managers. In addition, it designs, manufactures, and terpretation. Open source software is available for free maintains wireless communications equipment used to and therefore the acquisition cost is lower than that of extend emergency radio frequency services and cellular proprietary software. Installation, operation, training sup- communication for fixed and mobile applications. HBE port costs for OSS can be similar to that of proprietary is headquartered in Fair Lawn, New Jersey with offices software. Depending on the package and the knowledge of covering the metropolitan markets of Phoenix, AZ, Dallas, the staff, it can be higher. The support and maintenance TX, Denver CO, DC Metro and Southern, CA. process still need to be performed. Many business may HBE has been improving its IT infrastructure over the implement OSS but obtain a support contract for critical past few years. A number of open source packages have systems [5, 6]. been installed and integrated to allow this upgrade to oc- cur while minimizing capital expenditures. These systems provide sales processing, time tracking, asset management, III. SYSTEM AND SERVER SOFTWARE reporting, network monitoring, backups, PBX services, HBE has implemented a large number of open source and many other functions. software packages to provide functionality to the business The paper will introduce open source software and some where nothing existed before or there was a need to of the advantages and disadvantages, how HBE uses OSS enhance an existing package or platform. In many cases, to provide services, how OSS is used on the desktop, what these systems would not have been implemented had there the company may work towards in the future, and some been a cost associated with the purchase of the software. conclusions. In all cases, there was some level of internal support required to implement and integrate the system into the II. OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE existing environment. Reliability, stability and cost have Open-source software (OSS) is available in source code been the foundation for deploying OSS at HBE. Severe form for which the source code and certain other rights defects have tended to be fixed within hours or days of Trenton Computer Festival 2010 - Open Source Systems Applications c 2010 - C. Peckham and Henry Bros. Electronics 2 being detected. Reduced total cost of ownership with a C. Asset Management zero dollar software purchase price and no need to account HBE has implemented two different systems to track for copies in use are but a few reasons OSS has been assets; A CMMS is used for client systems and a client- deployed at HBE. server system is used for internal systems. OSS has been used to provide sales lead tracking, time A Computerized Maintenance Management System reporting, asset management, portal functionality, a re- (CMMS) maintains a database of information about assets porting engine, file services, monitoring services, backups, and maintenance operations. The information in the system PBX functionality, and a number of internal systems. could be used to determine what assets are scheduled for preventive maintenance, tracking of work order requests A. Sales Lead Tracking and scheduling, what spare parts are required for a service call, and inventory control. This information can also Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is the be used to verify regulatory compliance. The use of the process of managing relationships with customers and system also simplifies the management of the equipment prospects. A CRM system can be viewed as a tool to drive maintenance process. results for a company and will allow the sales force to track HBE’s CMMS system is CalemEAM [9]. The system leads and opportunities through the entire sales lifecycle. may be used from the WWW and in an offline mode on It also serves as the basis for the management of the sales a laptop or a handheld computer. The technicians enter pipeline. The process and the resulting information can information into the system for tracking and real time assist the sales staff in reaching their goals and quota. reporting for work tickets and asset management control, The use of a CRM allows the sales force to work in a allowing better decision making associated with assets. more focused manner and provide a common information Clients are also provided access to reports based on this source for sales management. information. OpenVPN [10] is used to allow the handheld HBE implemented the open source version of Sugar- computers to connect to the server and sync information CRM [7]. Sales prospects are tracked in the system as across the Internet. leads, activities, opportunities, and contacts. Reports are The “Open Computer and Software Inventory Next then generated showing sales activities and stages from Generation” [11] system is used to perform inventory of across the company. Additional fields are displayed on IT assets at HBE. OCS-NG collects information about the a PDF or Excel report that is generated using php. The hardware and software of machines running the OCS client use of the system has allowed the sale staff to standardize program. GLPI (Gestionnaire libre de parc informatique how the sales process is reported to management. It allows - Free Management of Computer Equipment) [12] is a management to use the system as the authoritative source frontend for the resulting computer equipment database of sales stage information. from OCS. This system has a simple to use GUI and provides a number of reporting tools. Using these systems, it is possible to find who is assigned to what hardware / B. Time Reporting software and where it is deployed on the network. Human resources management is the process of man- aging a staff so they can achieve the goals of a business. OrangeHRM [8] is a HR management information system D. Portal that provides a wide range of features to help manage Companies or groups of users need a standard location staff. The system has modules to provide different HRM on the network to share and provide common information. functions including personnel information management, A portal is a one-stop central repository to aggregate employee self service, leave requests, and time and at- information that can then be used across an enterprise tendance reporting. The system is written in php and may or business. They allow each user to personalize their be used by any browser. HBE has modified OrangeHRM experience on the system. These systems provide a number to allow for a different time entry format as well as storing of tools out of the box that can be used to develop and im- training certification information. plement an enterprise portal system. Role-based authoriza- The system is updated multiple times a day from HBE’s tion, single sign on, content management, articles, wikis, accounting system, Sage Timberline Office, to obtain job blogs, message boards, searching, tagging, and RSS feeds information for all non-closed jobs. Information from each are common features. Modern portals also implement HBE location is fed into the system and staff at each portlets to allow for dynamic content in the system.