BROOMFIELD, CO -- 07/22/08 --
OpenLogic, Inc., a provider of enterprise
open source software solutions encompassing hundreds of open source
packages, today announced the results of a survey of corporate open source
users regarding open source support.
The survey was conducted in June 2008 of 123 enterprise users of open
source software. Half of the respondents came from organizations with more
than 1,000 employees (upon request, OpenLogic can filter results of survey
by organization size). Respondents included systems and application
architects, IT executives and managers and developers from a wide range of
organizations.
OpenLogic's research found that enterprise users of open source software
have been accustomed to getting their support directly from the open source
community or from their own internal support resources. However, a
majority of respondents from larger enterprises saw having a support vendor
as important. Additionally, although the most common support resources
used were internal resources and open source mailing lists, a minority of
respondents use commercial open source vendors. Many respondents also felt
that open source support was harder to obtain.
When comparing open source support to support for traditional, non-open
source software, the vast majority of respondents reported that open source
support was of equal or better quality. Support issues for open source
were more frequently about configuration, integration and performance than
about software defects.
"As enterprises increase their open source adoption -- they have to address
how they support that software," said Kim Weins, senior vice president of
product and marketing at OpenLogic. "The sample size of our survey is small
but reflects exactly what we have been seeing in the marketplace for years as
we have built out OpenLogic's support offering that leverages a diversified
set of resources, including internal experts, leading OSS developers and
OSS support vendor partners. Vendors looking to sell OSS support need to
provide value to enterprises that goes above and beyond what they get today
from the community and internal resources. At OpenLogic, we increase the
value of support by providing aggregated support that helps customers with
their complex, multi-source environments."
Among the findings of the survey:
-- Most open source support questions are not about software defects:
More respondents needed help "often" or "very often" with
configuration (27.9%), integration (27.9%) or performance (26%)
issues, than for software defects (22%)
"These results align with our experience providing support for over 400
open source projects. On the average, only 5% of support questions from
OpenLogic customers are related to a defect in open source software. Most
commonly, enterprises need help in troubleshooting issues around
integrating multiple open source products with proprietary commercial
solutions and code developed in-house. This reflects the mixed-source
reality of applications developed by enterprises today," Weins said.
-- Enterprises use internal support or community support most often,
and report trouble finding open source support: Respondents "often"
or "very often" turned to internal support resources (56% of
respondents), internal developers (52.2% of respondents) and
community resources (54.8% of respondents). Enterprises accessed
external OSS vendors (10.4% of respondents) and IT consultants
(10.3% of respondents) much less frequently. In addition, a majority
over half of respondents report difficulty in finding OSS support
"sometimes," "often" or "always," which may explain the lower usage
of vendors to resolve issues.
"We believe this reflects the role of internal resources as the first line
of support as well as the historical availability of commercial open source
support. For the vast majority of open source projects, there has only
been community support available. For example, less than 10% of the 400
open source projects supported by OpenLogic's have any other commercial
entity supporting the project," Weins said.
-- Larger enterprises see OSS vendor support as more important: Over 50%
of respondents in mid-size and large companies (1000 employees or
more), see an open source vendor as "very important" or "required."
In comparison, only 39% of respondents across all company sizes felt
that vendor support was "required" or "very important."
"As open source software makes its way into mission-critical applications,
large and mid-size enterprises we work with are placing increasing
importance on SLA support. In addition, there are now more commercial
support options available for companies to choose from," Weins said.
-- Enterprises report highest satisfaction with support from internal
resources: More than half of the respondents were "satisfied" or
"extremely satisfied" getting support from either internal developers
within their own company (60.8%); other internal support resources
(58.6%); or open source project mailing lists and message boards
(49.1%). Commercial open source support followed with 38% reporting
being satisfied. Respondents also report internal resources as being
the quickest to resolve issues.
"High satisfaction with internal resources reflects the fact that these
employees have an intimate understanding of complex, multi-source
applications that have been developed by enterprises and also the speed
with which internal resources respond. However, we believe this also
indicates the need for OSS support vendors to deliver high quality, fast
turnaround support," Weins said.
-- OSS Support is harder to find: More than half of the respondents felt
that open source software is about the same (26.1%) or harder (37.4%)
to obtain than commercial proprietary software support.
-- OSS software is high quality: Users felt that the quality of open
source software is the same (43.5% of respondents) or better (35.7%)
than proprietary software.
About OpenLogic
OpenLogic is a leading provider of open source solutions that enable
enterprises to safely acquire, support, and control open source software.
OpenLogic provides enterprises with a certified library of open source
software that encompasses hundreds of the most popular open source packages
via OpenLogic Exchange (OLEX), a free web site where companies can find,
research, and download certified, enterprise-ready open source packages on
demand. With the broadest open source coverage in the industry, OpenLogic
offers indemnification; updates; and enterprise-grade technical support
backed by the OpenLogic Expert Community. OpenLogic also provides solutions
for open source governance and to automate the integration and deployment
of open source components -- reducing the risk and maximizing the cost
savings associated with using open source software. For more on OpenLogic,
go to www.openlogic.com.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Bret Clement
Page One PR
303.462.3057
bret@pageonepr.com
