Six out of 10 Oracle database sites are now running open
source operating systems, but adoption is lower among big
businesses, new research has revealed.
The survey of 269 members of the Independent Oracle Users
Group, found that open source operating systems, databases and
middleware were more prevalent in smaller organisations, with 57%
of organisations using some open source products.
Users said cost savings were the main motivation for adopting
open source systems.
But big enterprises were less agile and so less able to derive
business benefit from access to source code for custom coding or
making site specific modifications, the research carried out by
Unisphere Research found.
Enterprises were failing to exploit the “open” qualities of open
source systems, with just 19% making changes to the source
code.
But the survey revealed a lack of support for open source
systems. More than a third of respondents said maintenance and
support for open source software was becoming “increasingly
difficult”, while another third said open source solutions lacked
enterprise-grade support.
The research found that most open source deployments were still
at the “outside edge” of enterprise applications, such as Web
servers or single-function servers, rather than core business
applications.
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