Free Sample: Open Source Strategy Outline

As mentioned in the article Your Open Source Software Strategy having a formal open source strategy can help you educate non tech business leaders, calm their concerns, and provide a framework that shows if, when, how, and where open source software makes sense in the enterprise. Even if you don’t have open source software deployed, it is a big enough hot topic that you will eventually be asked about it. Having a strategy document that explains why you do not use open source shows you have researched and thought about the issue. As promised below is an outline I have used successfully for open source strategy documents. Fill in details of you company and situation and enjoy! Note: places to insert information are denoted by curly braces {}. I. Scope

a. The scope of this strategy only applies to use in the {insert company name} IT Enterprise – i.e. pros and cons would be different for a vendor planning to sell software

II. Open Source Background

a. Open Source Software (OSS) refers to a program in which the source code is available to the general public for use and/or modification from its original design free of charge b. Examples of commonly used Open Source Software: c. Linux – A Unix operating system d. Sendmail – Email processing software e. JBoss – A J2EE application server f. Apache – A web server g. MySQL, Postgres – Database software h. Open Office – Microsoft Office competitor i. There are many different licensing types that fall under the Open Source umbrella. The most commonly used licenses are the GPL, LGPL, BSD, MIT, and MPL licenses.

III. Current {insert company name} Open Source Software Implementations

a. The following software is used for Data Center level processing:

i. Linux – Linux is being run on Compaq hardware to provide services such as… ii. JBoss – Many applications such as {} are built on the JBoss platform iii. Sendmail – Used by servers to send mail iv. MySQL – Used as part of {} v. Administration Tools – Used daily to administer systems vi. Etc, etc

IV. Open Source Benefits

a. Technical

i. “Given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow” – Eric Raymond ii. Developers/Administrators can review the source code of the software iii. Platform independence

b. Non-Technical

i. Freely available ii. Use to leverage commercial vendors iii. Access to source negates need for software escrow iv. No licensing audits v. Independence from vendors

V. Open Source Drawbacks

a. Technical

i. Software might not have specific features of comparable commercial products ii. Hackers have access to source code

b. Non-Technical

i. For some software support is done by “Google” ii. Lack of specific business applications iii. Possible lack of documentation

VI. Open Source Applications

a. Open Source applications can provide competition to widely used commercial applications as shown below

i. Jboss -> BEA Weblogic ii. Apache -> Microsoft IIS iii. Bind -> Microsoft DNS iv. MySQL -> Oracle

VII. Open Source Application Strategy

a. Bring architecture, development, and application support teams to table to participate in IT strategy for Open Source applications b. Suggested use of Open Source applications is in place of commercial applications in scenarios where application functionality is acceptable and licensing cost considerations are a driving factor c. Review licensing terms with legal and procurement for each Open Source software package to be used in the Enterprise d. Deploy Open Source applications and development software environments on Open Source operating environment (Linux) to realize full license cost savings e. Utilize Open Source to leverage pricing from existing and new commercial hardware and software vendors f. Open Source software should be treated like commercial software and source code should not be modified

We realize that often Linux is specifically a key component of a company’s open source strategy. So for a future post, we will provide a free Linux Strategy Outline you can use.