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SurveysShowOpenSourcePopularityOnTheRiseInIndustry

From http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060120-6017.html

 Surveys show open source popularity on the rise in industry

1/20/2006 11:13:48 AM, by Ryan Paul

A survey conducted by IT consulting firm Optaros and InformationWeek magazine shows that American companies and government organizations are saving millions of dollars with open source software. Conducted in September 2005, the survey is based on responses collected from over 500 companies, government agencies, and organizations. According to the collected data, approximately 87 percent of American organizations use open source software within their technology infrastructure.

The survey also addresses the most important question: what motivates organizations to adopt open source software? According to Optaros, cost savings is one of the most significant factors. Optaros says that companies with over US$1 billion annual revenue reported average savings of $3.3 million in 2004 as a result of open source technology, and companies with annual revenue between $50 million and $1 billion reported an average savings of $1.1 million.

The survey results reveal that Linux, Apache, and assorted web browsers are the open source technologies most frequently used by the queried organizations. Open source content management systems (used by 42 percent of the survey participants) and customer relationship management technologies (used by 16 percent) are also becoming more popular in industry. The survey also examines the barriers that impede open source adoption. Licensing concerns, software cost allocation policies, and software selection process difficulties are cited as the most frequent problems.

The results of this survey contrast sharply with the results of a similar survey conducted in Europe by IDC. According to the results of the IDC survey, which used data collected from over 600 companies, quality and flexibility (rather than cost savings) are driving open source adoption in Europe. The IDC survey shows that open source databases (used by 33 percent) are more widely used than the Linux operating system (used by 25 percent). The IDC survey results contradict the assertion that users aren't interested in customizing software, a claim frequently made by proprietary software distributors. According to IDC survey results, European companies feel that open technologies facilitate extension and integration to a greater extent than alternative proprietary solutions.

It is also interesting to note how the results of the Optaros survey differ from the results of OSDL's desktop Linux survey. Desktop Linux deployment is really a very different kind of animal, but the survey result differences are still very intriguing. The OSDL survey shows that employee demand and successful deployments by competitors are more relevant than cost savings and customization as far as desktop Linux adoption is concerned.

So what does all this mean? The popularity of open source software is increasing around the world, but for many different reasons. European companies seem to value the flexibility of open source solutions, while American companies value the savings. Many companies are using open source software on proprietary operating systems, but the Linux adoption rate is definitely expanding. Finally, the results show that user demand for customizable software does exist, despite the claims of proprietary software vendors.