Kardia and Centrallix - FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions about Kardia and Centrallix:
- How much does Kardia cost?
Kardia, and the underlying Centrallix technology, is built completely on open-source technologies and can be deployed and used with $0 investment in software. It is designed to grow with you without "nickle and diming" you along the way.
However, like anything else, there are investments that you will make in the system and in the community. For example, you'll need to invest time in training (which we can provide free), invest time in setting up the system and possibly customizing it if you desire, and we encourage you to invest time in contributing back to the project any customizations and enhancements that you make. Our desire is that this be a community effort.
We encourage you to treat this as an in-house development effort... but without the inherent disadvantages of in-house efforts (supportability, longevity beyond the involvement of your initial development staff, having to start from the ground-up, duplicating effort already done by others, etc.).
- Will Kardia work for my organization?
It depends on 1) what your requirements are, 2) when you need it implemented, and 3) what you are willing to invest in customizing / extending the system. Kardia is designed from the ground up for extensibility - our desire is to empower your creativity and intimate knowledge of your organization. Contact us for more information.
- I know what Kardia is, but what is Centrallix?
Centrallix is the underlying technology powerplant for Kardia. It is an "application platform," providing the infrastructure needed for Kardia to operate. Centrallix features several cutting-edge areas of technology, many of which are designed to make Kardia the best it can be and to help Kardia fill the role that it needs to fill.
- Why was Centrallix chosen as the basis for Kardia? Why not (Java | .NET | VB | MS Access | PHP | Delphi | XUL | etc.)?
In a sense, Centrallix was not "chosen" for the basis for Kardia. Rather, Centrallix is being developed based on the ambitious requirements for Kardia.
To answer the second part of the question, several development environments were ruled out for Kardia/Centrallix because they were either 1) not free for deployment, or 2) not free for development. We want anyone to be able to use this system, customize it, and contribute to it, without spending thousands of dollars on licenses.
Other environments were ruled out because they would not easily support the collaborative development and extensibility requirements of Kardia. We want you to be able to customize and extend the system without breaking compatibility with future updates, and we want you to be able to contribute your new features, on your timeframe, back to the community.
Many environments were ruled out because they did not provide investment protection by separating data storage, data, business logic, presentation logic, and presentation / delivery vehicle, into abstracted layers. We want you to be able to use this system in the future, and continue to use your customizations, long after application delivery and data storage technologies have changed.
- Aren't there enough non-profit administrative systems out there?
Admittedly, even in the past two years as we've continued to press forward with Kardia/Centrallix, there has been a proliferation of various types of ministry administrative systems, some free, and some fee-based.
We have no desire to implement Kardia just so we can "have our chip in the game," so to speak. Nor do we want to succomb to a "Not Invented Here" mentality and forge ahead just to be able to say that "we've done it." There are many very good administrative systems out there that provide financial, personnel, mailing, and more, functionality. If we just wanted to implement another such system, we'd be fools to do this - it would simply not be worth our time.
The goals of Kardia/Centrallix are very ambitious - we are focusing on a community, not so much on a product. We are also focusing on the benefit to the body of Christ as a whole, not on the benefit to a specific organization. That changes a lot of the requirements, and means the answers to key questions about the system are going to be very different.
- When will the first version be released?
We are working towards a first Kardia deployment at one of our clients at this very time. Centrallix, however, is already in production to a limited degree.
If your organization is interested in being a part of the Kardia community, be sure to let us know.
- How can I help with Kardia and/or Centrallix?
First, if you are a missions group, ministry, or church, you can help us by contributing to the 'base of knowledge' that we are using for the foundation of the project. For example - have you recently compiled a list of requirements, born out of a search for an administrative software system? Do you have a well-documented existing system that you wrote in-house? Have you recently overhauled your ministry processes or analyzed the kinds of information you receive, send, and store? If so, and you'd be willing to contribute that knowledge to our project, be sure to let us know.
Second, if you are a developer, especially if you have a good knowledge of HTML, Javascript, C, SQL, systems design, etc., then we welcome you to participate. See Get Involved! for more information.
Third, if you are a ministry, missions group, or church, who needs to transition to a new system in the next 2 to 3 years, and would like to join the Kardia community, contact us so we can see if this would be a fit, and collaborate together on a solution for you.
Fourth, if you would like to join the Kardia Advisory Board and contribute your expertise on accounting, international finance, human resources, law, mailing, needs in churches or missions, etc., we welcome you to contact us.
For more information: