Knowing When to Embrace Open Source; Turning to open-source software for an enterprise resource planning system is a big challenge for most companies - so big they steer clear of it.

Turning to open-source software for an enterprise resource planning system is a big challenge for most companies - so big they steer clear of it.

"No matter how bad their current system is, they feel like they can't afford to change," says Don Ladwig, senior business solutions architect at Idalica, a systems integrator in Oceanside, Calif. "But very often, they can't afford not to, either."

In the right business case, Ladwig says, companies can achieve significant savings through lower development and support costs by moving to open-source software.

Those typical business cases, he says, include first-time ERP adapters such as a midsize business looking to bring …