Open Source or a commercial offering?

[Anthony M Simonelli]

I've been working on an Internet Gateway/Proxy/Email filter box for work
using Postfix, AmavisD-New, Spamassassin, ClamAV, Squid, Dansguardian,
etc.  I've put in many hours trying to get it to work the way I want,
(granted I have spent a lot of those hours learning and documenting
along the way) and I'm happy with the results, but I am beginning to
wonder, am I really benefiting my company?  Am I saving them money with
a more superior product?  Let's say that after benefits and everything,
someone in IT is paid $25 an hour and spends 20 total hours getting a
Linux server setup for the functionality above.  That's $500 worth of
work.  Now compared to a commercial offering such as the SonicWall TZ
180 TotalSecure 10 priced at $480 that does all of the above, what is
the benefit of running a free, open source solution?  Don't get me
wrong, I am a huge fan and promoter of open source, but from a purely
business perspective, am I doing the right thing?  Your thoughts and
opinions please...
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