Open Source Races Away
By CXOtoday Staff
Mumbai, Nov 28, 2008 1503 hrs IST

The survey was conducted on 274 end-user organizations across the Asia/Pacific, Europe and North American markets. However, only 31 percent of surveyed companies had formal policies for evaluating and procuring open-source software (OSS).

The survey pointed to cost as a prime motivator for their adoption to OSS. Other factors for OSS adoption included protection against single-vendor lock-in, fast time to market and the avoidance of complex procurement rules and procedures.

However, Gartner said lack of formal policies could endanger companies to intellectual-property violations and quoted policy governance as the main barrier to OSS adoption. Gartner also said the variety of license types and forms for open-source software could make understating when and where OSS might fit in a frustrating process.

In terms of the business processes for which open-source software is being used, customer service headed Gartner's list, although enterprise integration, finance and administration and business analytics also showed strongly.


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