Open source: Why it makes sense

One of the most significant differentiators of open source software in the business arena today has (interestingly) little to do with traditional profit-oriented business thinking but lies within the open source community`s philosophy of free sharing of software source code - and complementary knowledge - for the good of all like-minded people.

Indeed, this philosophy represents a paradigm shift - a quantum leap - from the proprietary (non-open source) software world, where intellectual capital and source code are closely guarded secrets, available to a select few.

Subsequently, open source has matured to the point where it cannot be ignored by decision-makers in business - endorsed by major IT players like Sun, HP and Computer Associates (CA).

And its value proposition is clear: readily availability, low cost of acquisition and maintenance, and broad-based technical support. These attributes make it an attractive proposition for business professionals, especially smaller businesses like SMEs that don`t always have the budget but still need the business-critical functionality.

It is a difficult proposition for hard-nosed business people to accept. In the world in which they have been schooled, knowledge represents power and power has to be paid for.

It is also difficult to grasp because the business community is still anchored in the proprietary world, due to its dependence on non-open legacy systems that run, manage and control a sizable percentage of all business transactions today.

Interestingly, the Linux community claims that 99% of all its software is viable and has not failed in operation. They question whether their proprietary systems counterparts can make such a statement.

When making a business case for any new proposition, its proponents are urged to "cover all the bases" and balance the rewards of the new proposal with any risks that might be associated with it.

The business case for open source software must address the negatives as well as the positives. What are they?

The business case for open source software centres on one key area: support.

It features at the top of the "positives" column because there is online support available from a variety of sources to help tailor a wide range of open source software to meet specific business needs.

Insiders say that when a problem is identified by a Linux user, within hours there could be as many as 40 000 experts from user groups around the world addressing it.

And this particularly beneficial to SMEs that usually don`t have a dedicated IT expert and are reliant on outsourced support.

However, support is also on the "negatives" side of the business proposition.

The risks associated with this support are linked to the fact that very few specialist organisations offer traditional technical support for open source solutions. While there is a growing corps of Linux-certified engineers in the marketplace, they are not very often highly visible.

There are very few "Linux toll-free" support lines, for example. Getting support requires one to be a "member of the club". However, this is changing as the open source evolution gains momentum and business maturity.

In making the business case for open source software, the "clincher" has to be performance. Because of its inherent low demand on system resources and overhead, Linux software performance is often superior to proprietary offerings running on similar environments.

The management of open source infrastructures is easier as a result, and many specialised software developers - particularly in the "big vendor" arena - are throwing their weight behind the movement and assisting with base-lining for new software systems.

In SA this is already evident. The government has come out in support of open source software (Linux) and has accepted the community`s vision - its business case - for the future.