Below is the result of the November 2002 TecOA (Technology Officers' Association - ). The meeting was about business considerations of open source software. The outcome was interesting and I figured some here would find it useful: -- == Jay Jacobson == Edgeos, Inc. - Security is Critical - http://www.edgeos.com == We help you to easily get control of your network's security. == ...or some hacker can just take control instead. You decide. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 4 Dec 2002 18:51:36 -0700 (MST) To: tecoa-discuss@lists.tecoa.org Subject: [TecOA-Discuss] November 2002 Meeting Deliverable Greetings all. Below are the notes from the November 2002 meeting. -------------------------------------------- Topic: Criteria for my company considering open source. Prove to me why I should use it. Deliverable: List of criteria necessary to properly evaluate both the technical and business values of using open source software. Meeting Notes: We finalized on seven unique criteria for a business to consider when moving to open source software. In no particular order: * SUPPORT - Do you have the internal resources to support the open source software? Does someone else sell support contracts and/or services for it? * BUSINESS ANALYSIS - Don't do open source because it's fashionable. Consider what the actual business needs are, independent of the technology. Then, choose the best "tool" for the job. * SECURITY - Open source has many eyes and skills reviewing code. Closed source software (typical commercial software) is limited to the review of a single vendor. A possible parallel might be a community of active corrections (open source) versus providing security through obscurity (closed source). * LONGEVITY - Short term needs and required product lifespan should be considered. Maybe closed source is quicker and easier for short-term projects because it is ready off-the-shelf. However, for long-term projects, open source will be around forever by design, and thus can potentially have an infinite lifespan. * LICENSING - Open source licenses can be very restrictive for commercial usage. May require proprietary code, when combined with open source code, to also become open source. Closed source licenses can also be very restrictive and can sometimes even dictate how your business will have to operate. It is always good measure to consider the licensing restrictions and/or conditions of any new software. * COST - Sticker price may be free for open source, but TCO is *not* $0. Consider the complete cost of ownership of both options. Sometimes open source will be cheaper, but not always. Don't shop on sticker price alone. Again, evaluate the business needs and choose the best tool for the job. * COMPATIBILITY - Some applications, particularly specilized things, are only available on certain operating systems and/or in certain computing environments. Consider the related needs of other applications and/or systems (end-to-end operations). -------------------------------------------------------- ~Jay _______________________________________________ TecOA-Discuss mailing list TecOA-Discuss@lists.tecoa.org http://lists.tecoa.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tecoa-discuss