Shutterstock's Chris Fischer: Making The Most Of Open Source's 'Huge Tech Edge'

"Some of the most mature databases have been open-source-based. Also, the most mature Web servers in the market are open source software. Considering the level of maturity and the capabilities of the technology, I would take open source over any proprietary software. There are numerous third-party vendors to provide support if you want to pay for that service."

Shutterstock has a nearly insatiable appetite for data storage. From its inception, the company -- a global provider of licensed photographs, vectors, illustrations and videos -- refused to pay higher prices just to stuff its storage needs into somebody else's cloud. Instead, the almost 10-year-old image-storing warehousing operation built its own server farm and created its own cloud software system at home.

Shutterstock's storage appetite continued to grow. Towards the end of 2012 it stored some 20 million images. Since then it has added an average of 10,000 images per day. The cost of operating its own cloud storage facility kept the company's operations budget on a diet, however, thanks to open source technology.