Free and Open Source: Enterprise Support Is Needed
By Don Reisinger | Posted 04-24-2013Free and Open Source: Enterprise Support Is Needed
Open Source Widely Used No surprise for most CIOs, 76% of companies say they are using free and open source software.
Free and Open Source: Enterprise Support Is Needed
However, Problems Abound Despite the popularity of free and open source software, 75% of respondents say that it has caused an issue for their operation in the last 12 months. What's worse, those issues have affected mission-critical applications.
Free and Open Source: Enterprise Support Is Needed
Enterprise Support Needed A lack of enterprise-grade support for free and open source software is the chief complaint of 27% of companies.
Free and Open Source: Enterprise Support Is Needed
Usability and Maintenance Issues Another problem with free and open source software is usability, according to 24% of the respondents. Another 20% complained about a general lack of software support.
Free and Open Source: Enterprise Support Is Needed
Enterprises Willing to Spend In order to address those issues, 64% of IT and business executives said they would pay for better quality support and software in the open source environment.
Free and Open Source: Enterprise Support Is Needed
Paying For Stability Since so many companies would pay to use open source software, some might wonder why. According to 25% of respondents, paying for the technology should increase stability.
Free and Open Source: Enterprise Support Is Needed
Paying For Support And 22% of companies say enterprise-grade support is enough to get them to pay for open source software.
Free and Open Source: Enterprise Support Is Needed
The Enterprise’s FOSS Reliance Not surprisingly, engineering and research and development divisions are most heavily using open source software, accounting for 32% of all implementations.
Free and Open Source: Enterprise Support Is Needed
Sales A Distant Second After engineering and research and development, the sales department is most likely to use free and open source software, with 8% of divisions across sales saying they use it.
Free and Open Source: Enterprise Support Is Needed
Dedicated Followers Looking for companies that exclusively use free and open source software? They're few and far between: Just 10% of companies use only free and/or open source software.