Businesses that want to make more use of open source
technology have been advised to work more closely with the open
source community.
With open source technology now viable within the enterprise,
users need to appreciate how to engage with the open source
community, a report from analyst firm Forrester Research has
advised.
Michael Goulde, senior analyst at Forrester and author of the
"How firms should work with the open source ecosystem" report,
said, "Firms are using open source software because they believe it
will help them lower technology costs, escape supplier lock in, and
increase flexibility. But working with open source is difficult for
firms that are used to buying commercial software, in part because
the open source movement has not focused on corporate needs that
traditional software suppliers provide through a partner
ecosystem."
Goulde said an open source ecosystem is emerging, comprising
many new types of organisations, such as communities and consortia,
which deliver product development, distribution, services, and
marketing - equivalent to what is available with commercial
software.
He urged companies that want to implement open source software
more widely to assemble a "do-it-yourself ecosystem". This involves
working more closely with open source communities such as GNU or
PostgreSQL, consortia such as Open Source Development Labs, and
open source foundations such as the Apache Software Foundation or
the Eclipse Foundation.
"The foundation supplies the servers, storage, source code
management, e-mail lists, legal counsel, and other infrastructure
that projects need as well as sufficient governance to ensure that
projects progress smoothly and without legal hiccups," said
Goulde.
So, for example, if the organisation is building a Java
application, it can go to Apache Software Foundation or
java-source.net as a starting point for projects and repositories,
said Goulde.
For integration and development assistance, commonly used open
source projects such as the Apache web server, PostgreSQL, and
Tomcat are available in integrated packages from open source
assemblers such as OpenLogic, SourceLabs, and SpikeSource.
Commercial open source software suppliers can also provide
useful assistance, said Goulde. For help with deployment and
management, software suppliers and service providers such as
Hewlett-Packard, IBM, and Novell have extended their offerings to
include deployment of open source applications.
"For enterprise-class support, firms should contract with
suppliers like Capgemini, Covalent, HP, IBM, and MySQL," said
Goulde.
However, Goulde warned that the open source ecosystem is still
immature. "Today, the open source ecosystem is a loose connection
of parties with a common interest, but little organisation or
order, unlike the world of proprietary software where a supplier in
the centre of the ecosystem provides organisation and
direction.
"Forrester believes the open source ecosystem will use its
strength of co-operation and collaboration to organise as a
software innovation network - ecosystems of process consultants,
independent software suppliers and lead user companies that develop
and market products and services anchored by standards-based
software infrastructure platforms," he said.
Pros and cons of working with open source
Advantages
- Low acquisition and support costs
- The code is free and there are no complicated licence fees or
negotiation
- Availability of source code for testing and debugging
software
- Use of open standards. This helps enterprises implement
standards in a supplier-neutral way
- Supplier independence in choice of software and hardware. This
can help avoid supplier lock in.
Disadvantages
- Open source projects tend to be hard to integrate as they are
developed for specific purposes and in relative isolation
- Firms often lack open source knowledge and skills
- Individual projects do not address how an IT organisation is
going to configure and manage its complete software
environment
- Relying on e-mail lists to get support questions answered is
not economical in a large organisation
- Open source licences often conflict with corporate policy and
processes
- Implementing open source products in a corporate environment
can be challenging because of differences between the open source
and commercial approaches to software creation and
delivery.
Source: Michael Goulde, Forrester Research