[TecOA-Discuss] November 2002 Meeting Deliverable

[Jay]

Below is the result of the November 2002 TecOA (Technology Officers'
Association - <http://tecoa.org>). 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


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