Is Open Source passé?

At Amplexor, we are working with both commercial proprietary software and open source software for the realization of enterprise content management projects. Our expertise and neutrality towards both worlds explains why a lot of organisations turn to us to get advice about the respective pros and cons.
But last year or so, the number of inquiries on this specific topic seemed to be fading.

 We also noticed that requirements like ‘the software must be open source’ in Request For Proposals were becoming rare. This was not the case a couple of years ago when open source was sometimes a de facto RFP-requirement, especially in public tenders.

The Google Trends barometer also indicates that the number of queries for “open source” are steadily decreasing:

Does this imply that the era of open source is already over?

The hype – and the according emotional, religious debates - around open source are surely over, and we have probably moved to the mature phase of the adoption curve.

But earlier this month, a report from our friends at Accenture on the adoption of open source generated quite some noise. Accenture - a management consulting company not really known for its love for open source – “found that half of the 300 respondents (50 percent) are fully committed to open source in their business while almost a third (28 percent) say they are experimenting with open source and keeping an open mind to using it. Furthermore, two-thirds of all respondents (65 percent) noted that they have a fully documented strategic approach for using open source in their business, while another third (32 percent) are developing a strategic plan. Of the organizations using open source, almost nine out of ten (88 percent) will increase their investment in the software in 2010 compared to 2009."

Particularly striking was the fact that cost savings are becoming less of a priority for organisations planning to adopt open source, while key benefits like quality, reliability and speed are on top of their lists.

The study also reported that the main barriers for open source in the enterprise were “lack of senior management support” and “training of developers how to use open source”. The latter might seem weird as developers typically like to download and install the latest cool open source software. But what is meant is that IT departments should establish well-defined governance processes for deploying and maintaining open source solutions.

Looking closer at the WCM and ECM open source options in the market, it is clear that open source WCM solutions – with Drupal leading the pack – have gained significant momentum.

In the enterprise content management space with document management, records management, e-collaboration and portals as the main functional areas, players like Alfresco and Liferay have clearly become serious market players.

If you want to learn more about the state of open source ECM and WCM solutions, REGISTER for our FREE seminar on the 28th of September 2010 in Diegem.  With KEYNOTE SPEAKER: John Powell, CEO Alfresco.