Announcing commercial support for wdi5

[vobu]

wdi5 has established itself as the official end-to-end test tool for OpenUI5/SAPUI5. It is adopted inside and outside SAP as a means of effectively safeguarding business processes implemented in UI5 applications. 

In that wake, support requests on all channels keep increasing. To mitigate this support demand, the wdi5 Steering Committee in its last meeting has decided to open up the tool for commercial support. 

This means that any company or individual is eligible to offer commercial support for wdi5. Furthermore, the committee has agreed on recommending using GitHub Sponsors for implementing the financial flows. More on that below. 

Of course, wdi5 itself is and will always remain an independent Open Source project. 

Why commercial support for wdi5? 

Commercial support for an Open Source project is essential for its long-term sustainability. While many Open Source projects are developed by passionate volunteers, it can be challenging to maintain and grow the project without financial resources. The same applies to wdi5: it is maintained by an enthusiastic group of individuals - in their spare time, outside of the job, adjacent to working hours. 

Offering commercial support opens up new avenues for funding and ensures that the project can continue to innovate and improve. It allows companies and individuals not only to get paid for their wdi5 expertise, but also opens up the opportunity to contribute features, fixes, and documentation to wdi5 as part of the support process. 

Additionally, commercial support can lead to increased adoption of the project, as companies are more likely to use and contribute to a project that has commercial support backing. Overall, commercial support is a critical aspect of the Open Source ecosystem and helps ensure that projects like wdi5 can thrive. 

Commercial support via GitHub Sponsors 

The Steering Committee recommends to use “GitHub Sponsors” to implement the administrative aspects of commercial support. GitHub Sponsors is a process offered by GitHub for putting financial flows into practice, taking away most of the burden of accounting and administration aspects. 

From the “supplier” perspective, GitHub Sponsors requires the company/individual to sign up for it, essentially providing payment reception options. Sign-Up is free.

From the “customer” perspective, GitHub Sponsors makes it as easy as clicking the "Sponsor" button in the wdi5 respository, then choosing a sponsorship/support option (e.g. “1 day of support”) and paying for it via a credit card to initiate the support process. Organizations can also pay by invoice. The “sponsored” developer or organization receives a notification about the transaction and is then obliged to offer the booked support resources to you. 

Please be aware that utilizing GitHub Sponsors as a way to implement the financial aspects of a support process is a first for all parties involved. GitHub Sponsors itself is an established and proven offering, any financial transactions are safe with GitHub. Using it for wdi5 is somewhat unchartered territory, yet poses the least hurdles and restrictions. 

How do you become a recognized company or individual for commercial wdi5 support? 

It is in fact as easy as contacting any of the Steering Committee members, ideally via the wdi5 Slack channel (sign-up link) or by e-mail. The only requirement is that as a company, you have one or more employees that have contributed to wdi5 in the past; similar for individuals: contributed == eligible. 

The committee will then virtually get together and consider your application and get back to you asap. If accepted, you will be listed on the GitHub site in the "Sponsor this project" section and in the "Resources" documentation of wdi5. 

The way you cut your support offering, including fees, is entirely up to you. There are no official limitations, giving you the freedom to tailor your offering so that it fits with your agenda, policy, or program. 

What’s next? 

Of course, supporting wdi5 is not limited to GitHub Sponsors. If you see fit, you can support the tool in many other ways as well: from contributing code all the way to dedicating personal and financial resources to it. The latter can always happen outside of GitHub Sponsors, by contracting a company or individual to develop a specific wdi5 feature for you! 

wdi5 is and always will be an Open Source tool. Anyone can and will be able use it for free, at no charge. Paying the people behind it to benefit from their expertise is no contradiction to that, but a reward for their efforts!