The standalone
open source software (OSS) market was worth £900m last year,
with further acceleration in take up expected this year, said
analyst IDC.
"We are in the early stages of the development and deployment of
OSS," said Matt Lawton, an analyst at IDC. "Although we see healthy
growth in revenue from standalone open source software, we must
keep in mind that revenue will substantially lag behind the
distribution of open source software.
"Many distributions of standalone OSS are free, while paid
distributions typically are based on pay-as-you-go subscriptions
rather than pay-up-front licence fees," said Lawton.
IDC said the drivers for
OSS adoption included firms realising that OSS provides them
with more choice and greater leverage with proprietary software
supplier.
Total standalone OSS revenue is expected to reach £2.4bn by
2011, said IDC, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR)
of 26% from 2006 to 2011.
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