Ubuntu-Pakistan Open Source Software Making Inroads in Organizations

[Fouad Riaz Bajwa]

Open Source Software Making Inroads in Organizations
December 22, 2005  By News Staff of
http://www.govtech.net/news/news.php?id=97682

Open source software has gone far beyond the Linux operating system, and is
found in all parts of the technology infrastructures of most U.S.
organizations (both corporate and government) and has resulted in cost
savings
for companies of all sizes, a research study led by Optaros Inc. found.
Emboldened by cost savings and other benefits, these companies expect to use
significantly more open source software over the next five years and
decrease
their use of commercial software packages in their organizations.

The study was conducted in August and September 2005 with responses from 512
U.S. companies, government agencies and other organizations. Sampled
companies
ranged in size from small organizations with revenue under $50 million to
large organizations with revenues over $1 billion. The study found that the
clear majority of organizations (87%) were using open source systems,
software
often available for free and built by communities of software developers.
The
most frequently-used open source software was the Linux operating system,
the
Apache web server, and web browsers, used at some level by more than 70% of
the companies represented by the survey participants. About half the
respondents were using open source database management systems and
application
servers in a single business function.

Gaining in popularity were open source business applications software such
as
portals and content management systems. Some 42% of the survey participants
had open source portals and content management systems that supported a
single
function. Some 16% used open source customer relationship management
systems,
a percentage that will double in the next three years.





"The study shows that a substantial number of companies are aggressively
using
open source, and increasingly for industrial-strength applications
software,"
says Stephen Walli, Vice President of Open Source Development Strategy at
Optaros. "The benefits of open source systems -- less-expensive, more
secure,
faster to develop the best-fit business solution, and easier-to-customize
software -- are too hard to ignore in a time in which organizations must
balance the demand for IT with budgetary restrictions."

The move to open source software is in part explained by the cost savings
that
companies are generating. Organizations with annual revenue of more than $1
billion saved an average $3.3 million in 2004 from their open source
software.
Medium-sized companies (with revenues between $50 million and $1 billion)
saved an average $1.1 million, and companies less than $50 million saved
about
$500,000. Several survey respondents reported substantial savings: a
technology company cut costs by $20 million, and four companies (three of
them
telecommunications firms) each saved $10 million last year.

The study found that once organizations start using open source software,
their usage typically increases. However, the study also found that most
companies were confronted by four primary barriers to achieving even greater
benefits:
Uncertainties about open source software that often relegate the software to
the IT function


Lack of understanding of licensing and legal issues around open source
software


Software cost allocation policies that discourage business functions from
reducing the cost of commercial software


The difficulty of identifying, evaluating, purchasing and maintaining open
source software
The survey was conducted with InformationWeek magazine.

Optaros Inc. is a consulting and systems integration firm that helps large
enterprises use open source software and global sourcing to reduce the cost
of
commercial software and rapidly build business applications.
Regards.
---------------------------
Fouad Riaz Bajwa
General Secretary
FOSSFP: Free & Open Source Software Foundation of Pakistan R
Cell #: 92-333-4661290
e-mail: bajwa at fossfp.org
Lahore-Pakistan.
URL: www.fossfp.org
Ubuntu-Pakistan
URL: www.ubuntu-pk.org
-----------------------------
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