Koha: The World's First Truly Sustainable ILS

by Nathan Curulla on Sep 18, 2012

We all know the importance of sustainability. We constantly see the need for sustainable energy, agriculture, architecture, and general living, but what about sustainable software? When you look at the costs of traditional proprietary software products and the model that is used for creating new functionality, would you really categorize their model as being sustainable? Is this a model that will truly endure? Is it flexible enough to adapt to technology’s ever changing direction and trends? A truly sustainable product or service is not only economically stable but also socially equitable.

With an open source system such as Koha, not only are your initial costs typically 50% less than what you would pay for one of the major ILS vendors, but your ongoing costs are also a fraction of the price. Updates and upgrades are free of charge to you, and occur on a monthly basis. That means every month your ILS gets better and you keep paying the same low price. On top of that you get to take advantage of support companies that are geared to meet all of your needs, and if they do not, you have the freedom to choose someone else who will.

All in all every major ILS has roughly the same functionality when it comes down to it. Here is the difference when it comes to using a sustainable product such as Koha: The new features and functionality are driven by the user, not the vendor. This means that with the thousands you save by switching to an open source system, you can re-invest some of it into the future; and not just for your library, but for every library in the world using Koha, making your ibrary a contributing member to a global collaborative. What fits better with the ideals and morals of the institution of libraries

When you think about sustainable software – choosing open source over a proprietary product not only means that you save money (that’s more money that future generations can spend on the things that they need), but it also means that you’re investing in a software product that is going to endure and benefit others such as yourself.

So switch out those incandescent lights for some warm white florescent bulbs and check out Koha during one of our free online webinars!