The continued maturation of the open source software industry has resulted in the birth of a new wave of lower cost yet high quality products and services. As a result, enterprises of all sizes are faced with the task of ensuring that their internal IT processes are suited for the unique nature of the open source business models. This is no simplistic task given the considerable number of differences between the proprietary and open source software development models. Both of which, while sharing a common output [software product], contrast each other in style, approach and concept.
On one hand, open source software development draws its strength from transparency and open collaboration. On the other hand, the proprietary model is based on protection and obfuscation of the process of developing software. Neither is necessarily better or worse than the other, only dissimilar. Therefore, open source products must be evaluated, approved, procured and maintained in a manner congruent with the way in which they are developed, distributed and continued by their sources of origination.
Enterprises have spent years formulating and implementing processes for managing both IT investments and assets. From mainframes to PC's to databases to browsers, organizations have consistently molded their methods for managing IT to include whichever recent form of technology happens to establish itself as a driver of business value. With open source software in the process of doing just that, the occasion calls for enterprises to establish a governance process for leveraging its many layers of value.
As a disruptive force, open source is not only dynamically altering the competitive landscape of the software industry, but also the way in which organizations view and govern their software assets. IT governance can be defined as a framework which guides the proper use of IT towards achieving organizational goals. It does so by specifying decision rights and a groundwork for accountability to encourage appropriate use of technology. Regrettably, current approaches to this form of governance take very little, if anything at all, of the novelty of open source software into account within their architecture. Accordingly, if an organization intends to maximize any sort of investment in open source software, steps must be taken to ensure proper governance mechanisms are in order. Such mechanisms must cover the following areas:
- Strategic planning: Alignment with overarching business strategy and priorities.
- Acquisition: Ensuring that only congruous products are chosen.
- Delivery: Meeting IT service levels and business requirements
- Monitoring & Measuring: Defining performance indicators and reporting parameters.
Since the effective 21st century enterprise has already defined some sort of IT governance for the above, initial efforts should involve an investigation of how pre-existing processes can be extended as well as how new processes can be introduced towards accounting for the distinct nature of open source software. This should start with an investigation of the following:
- What open source software is already in use?
- How visible is it throughout a chain of command?
- Is there any written/unwritten understanding of a strategy for leveraging open source?
- How comfortable is the entire enterprise with the concept of open source software?
- What business goals can be potentially met with open source?
- Where does IT strategy overlap with various open source products and services?
And should be followed by the documentation of a comprehensive open source governance model, which focuses on outlining the associated processes and their characteristics. This model should be designed and put in place juxtapose to existing IT governance frameworks as a supplemental entity. Doing so will prepare enterprises to maximize their resource investments in open source software as an IT asset while respecting its individuality.
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