dhis2-users team mailing list archive

[Marcio Thome <mthome@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi everybody

Yes, the debate is quite interesting but I guess it traces back to a basic
divide line: information systems are not equal to information systems
software. Period. It was already discussed in DHIS2 users forum. I would
focus the discussion about software alternatives in terms of costs for the
same functionalities. Are any candidates out there to compete with DHIS2? I
doubt very much. I am new to DHIS2 but with over 30 yrs experience
implementing HIS in Latin America and Africa using all sorts of databases
and canned software. Mistakes in choosing the right software and associated
costs can be detrimental to public health! And Bob is right about
quantitative and qualitative differences in custodianship of public/NGO
databases in health versus private sector.

A recent example on cost savings
 illustrates my point
: first users training to upscale DHIS2 in Brazil (NGO sector) starts next
Monday. Developing forms, setting up the server, getting basic reports and
charts, translating the end-users manual and 80% of screens to Brazilian
Portuguese took about two months for a team of three. Active and free
technical support was provided by DHIS2 community. The only costs incurred
were recurrent information systems costs I would have to pay anyway. But
excuse me if I am missing the point of this whole debate…J

 Cheers!


 Marcio


2013/5/31 Saptarshi Purkayastha <sunbiz@xxxxxxxxx>

> This might be pointing to a larger debate I feel:
>
> About Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)  Vs Software deployment. Enough has
> been said by Salesforce on pricing benefits, and is a similar argument by
> Google docs against Microsoft Office. That DHIS2 is not available as SaaS
> could be critiqued by some, but freedom is one obvious argument against
> SaaS.
> Richard Stallman, in my opinion correctly pointed out that freedom is
> compromised through such SaaS -
> http://bostonreview.net/BR35.2/stallman.php
>
> We should do a TCO exercise, since we are the largest implementers of
> DHIS2. But anyone who wants to start a SaaS with DHIS2, should be the
> people really doing it. That would be good exercise to determine per-user
> cost of providing such a service.
>
> PS: I think this is useful to discuss on the users list, hence sending
> there...
>
> ---
> Regards,
> Saptarshi PURKAYASTHA
>
> My Tech Blog:  http://sunnytalkstech.blogspot.com
> You Live by CHOICE, Not by CHANCE
>
>
> On 31 May 2013 10:39, Johan Sæbø <johansa@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>> Interesting, and we should work on the wording on our website.
>>
>> However, I read his point as nothing is really free, except magpi. In his
>> comparison with DHIS2 though, he's comparing apples and oranges. He also
>> fails to mention that you have to pay per reported form, and for extra
>> functionality. Not that he doesn't have a point about DHIS2, but he's
>> comparison is quite unfair.
>>
>> https://datadyne.zendesk.com/**entries/21093588-Cost-of-**
>> Magpi-formerly-EpiSurveyor-<https://datadyne.zendesk.com/entries/21093588-Cost-of-Magpi-formerly-EpiSurveyor->
>>
>> Johan
>>
>>
>> On 31.05.2013 09:54, Ola Hodne Titlestad wrote:
>>
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> Here is an interesting blog post on the cost of DHIS 2, and Free and
>>> Open Source Software in general:
>>>
>>> http://www.datadyne.org/2013/**05/global-dev-where-free-**
>>> means-expensive/<http://www.datadyne.org/2013/05/global-dev-where-free-means-expensive/>
>>>
>>> Not sure where he got the idea that a national, or any, HIS
>>> implementation can be free from, but I guess he has a point that it is
>>> important to be clear on what part is free.
>>> We can definitely be better at providing guidance on the
>>> implementation costing, although I don't think we have been trying to
>>> hide the fact that training thousands of users can be expensive.
>>>
>>> The freedom aspect of free software is of course not mentioned in his
>>> blog at all....
>>>
>>> Ola
>>> ------
>>>
>>> ------------------------------**----
>>> Ola Hodne Titlestad (Mr)
>>> HISP
>>> Department of Informatics
>>> University of Oslo
>>>
>>> Mobile: +47 48069736
>>> Home address: Eftasåsen 68, 0687 Oslo, Norway. Googlemaps link
>>>
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>>>
>>>
>>
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>
>
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>


-- 
Márcio Thomé

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