The Coming of Age of Open Source

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I described in a post from June 2009 how Accenture created - in stealth mode - its Innovation Center for Open Source. Just last month, Accenture published the results of a survey - targeting 300 large organizations in both the private and public sector of three countries: USA, UK and Ireland - which resonated like thunder. These results illustrate again the rise of open source software in the enterprise market.

According to Accenture’s survey, “69% of organizations anticipate increased investment in 2010, with more than a third (38 percent) expecting to migrate mission-critical software to open source in the next twelve months“. This follows the statement that “half of the 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“. Yes, this means that 97% of enterprises strategically adopted open source today. This is the new reality that we called for since the creation of Talend. And as Paul Daugherty, Accenture’s chief technology architect points out: “What we are seeing is the coming of age of open source“.

OK, this is not a great surprise for all the specialists of the market. The evolution of adoption has been overwhelming for the past 2 years. But there is also a shift in the way enterprises are selecting open source solutions: “Through both our research and our work with clients, we are seeing an increase in demand for open source based on quality, reliability and speed, not just cost savings. This is a significant change from just two years ago when uptake was driven mainly by cost savings. We can expect to see this trend develop as open source continues to evolve and address even more business critical functions” continues Daugherty.

While the first benefit has always turned around cost saving, quality is now the main argument in favor of OSS: “76 percent of respondents in the UK and US cited quality as a key benefit of open source“. And this is great news for all the technological actors like Talend, who strive to prove that if cost reduction is of course important for enterprises, it doesn’t serve their interest if its performance are not in line with their objectives. I clearly remember this saying: “Cheap costs a lot“, translating the fact that if a cheap product does not work, you’ll have to pay more to buy another one! With open source, you get both: quality and cost reduction.

Another data point attracted my attention in this survey: “Despite a very encouraging picture, some organizations still remain hesitant (…) Lack of senior management support appears to be a key reason given for not using open source software among organizations that have looked at it but ultimately chosen not to use it“. This is clearly a central theme of our future go to market strategy. We know that technology experts are bold but their management is sometimes reluctant for various reasons. It is our role to give them insight that proves that the benefits of open source are real. For example, sharing the great data of this Accenture survey…

Bertrand




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