Our IT Landscape at Iridium Works

Our IT Landscape at Iridium Works: Open Source vs. Paid Software

At Iridium Works, our IT landscape reflects how we approach client projects: pragmatic, reliable, and efficient. We combine the flexibility and sovereignty of open source tools with the robustness and speed of paid services.

Here’s an overview of the tools we use daily across the agency:

Open Source Tools

• Postiz (Social Media Management): Lightweight tool for scheduling and publishing posts. ‍
  
  • Pros: Open source, simple to use, no license costs. ‍
  • Cons: Fewer features than commercial competitors.
• Gogs (Code Management): Minimalist Git platform. ‍
  
  • Pros: Self-hosted, resource-light, easy setup. ‍
  • Cons: Smaller ecosystem compared to GitHub or GitLab.
• OwnCloud (File Storage): Self-hosted file sharing and sync. ‍
  
  • Pros: Full data control, GDPR-compliant. ‍
  • Cons: Maintenance required.
• Uptime Kuma & Grafana (Monitoring): Uptime checks and advanced dashboards. ‍
  
  • Pros: Flexible, customizable. ‍
  • Cons: Setup effort for Grafana.
• Passbolt (Password Management): Team-based password vault. ‍
  
  • Pros: Open source, fine-grained permissions. ‍
  • Cons: No native desktop client.
• Baikal (Calendar): Lightweight CalDAV server. ‍
  
  • Pros: Efficient, GDPR-friendly. ‍
  • Cons: Minimalist feature set.
• Ollama & Langflow (AI): Self-hosted LLMs and visual agent builder. ‍
  
  • Pros: Full control of sensitive data. ‍
  • Cons: High hardware demand, some instability.
• Docusaurus (Documentation): Static site generator for wikis. ‍
  
  • Pros: Developer-friendly, markdown-based. ‍
  • Cons: Requires developer knowledge.
• Listmonk (Marketing): Self-hosted newsletter system. ‍
  
  • Pros: GDPR-safe, scalable. ‍
  • Cons: Fewer integrations than Mailchimp.

Paid Tools

• Odoo (ERP): Comprehensive ERP for CRM, invoicing, and projects. ‍
  
  • Pros: Modular, powerful. ‍
  • Cons: Setup complexity.
• Figma (Design): Leading collaborative design platform. ‍
  
  • Pros: Real-time collaboration. ‍
  • Cons: Cloud-only.
• Webflow (Website): Visual web builder. ‍
  
  • Pros: Fast prototyping. ‍
  • Cons: Hosting tied to Webflow.
• Slack (Communication): Team chat and integrations. ‍
  
  • Pros: Reliable and industry-standard. ‍
  • Cons: High cost compared to open source.
• Microsoft 365 (Office): Productivity suite. ‍
  
  • Pros: Standard for many enterprises. ‍
  • Cons: Expensive at scale.
• Migadu (Mail): Minimalist email provider. ‍
  
  • Pros: Flexible and affordable. ‍
  • Cons: Less enterprise support.
• OpenAI, Anthropic, Firecrawl, Midjourney (AI): Cutting-edge AI services. ‍
  
  • Pros: State-of-the-art models. ‍
  • Cons: Cost and data privacy concerns.
• Cal.com (Calendar): Hosted scheduling platform. ‍
  
  • Pros: Strong UX, video integration. ‍
  • Cons: GDPR compliance requires careful embedding.

Conclusion

Our IT stack is designed to strike the right balance: sovereignty where it matters most, convenience where it saves time. This blend of open source and paid services gives us flexibility, data control, and efficiency – while allowing us to deliver the best results for our clients.