Editorial Chris McPhee and Michael Weiss IT Cost Optimization Through Open Source Software Mark VonFange and Dru Lavigne Best Practices in Multi-Vendor Open Source Communities Ian Skerrett How Firms Relate to Open Source Communities Michael Ayukawa, Mohammed Al-Sanabani, and Adefemi Debo-Omidokun Private-Collective Innovation: Let There Be Knowledge Ali Kousari and Chris Henselmans Control in Open Source Software Development Robert Poole Nokia's Hybrid Business Model for Qt John Schreuders, Arthur Low, Kenneth Esprit, and Nerva Joachim Recent Reports Upcoming Events Contribute january 2011 january 2011 Editorial 3 PUBLISHER Chris McPhee and Michael Weiss discuss the editorial theme: The Business of Open Source The Open Source Business Resource is a IT Cost Optimization Through Open Source Software 5 monthly publication of Mark VonFange and Dru Lavigne analyze the use of using free/libre the Talent First Network. open source software as a cost-effective means for the modern Archives are available at: enterprise to streamline its operations. http://www.osbr.ca Best Practices in Multi-Vendor Open Source Communities 11 EDITOR Ian Skerrett describes best practices for companies that wish to lower development costs and gain access to wider addressable markets Chris McPhee through engagement with open source communities. [email protected] How Firms Relate to Open Source Communities 15 ISSN Michael Ayukawa, Mohammed Al-Sanabani, and Adefemi Debo- Omidokun explore the relationship between firms and open source 1913-6102 communities. They illustrate the types of roles and strategies companies can employ to meet their business objectives. ADVISORY BOARD Private-Collective Innovation: Let There Be Knowledge 22 Chris Aniszczyk Ali Kousari and Chris Henselmans describe the benefits and risks of EclipseSource the private-collection innovation model, in which an innovator may Tony Bailetti chose to collaborate with others while still keeping some intellectual Carleton University property private. Leslie Hawthorn Oregon State University Control in Open Source Software Development 27 Chris Hobbs Robert Poole examines the perceived loss of control in open source QNX Software Systems software development and argues that a better understanding of the Rikki Kite mechanisms of control will help companies achieve their for-profit LinuxPro Magazine objectives using open source software. Thomas Kunz Carleton University Nokia's Hybrid Business Model for Qt 31 Steven Muegge John Schreuders, Arthur Low, Kenneth Esprit, and Nerva Joachim Carleton University describe the hybrid business model used by Nokia for its Qt cross- Michael Weiss platform application and GUI framework. Carleton University Recent Reports 37 © 2007 - 2011 Upcoming Events 38 Talent First Network Contribute 40 Open Source Business Resource http://www.osbr.ca Editorial Chris McPhee and Michael Weiss From the Editor-in-Chief From the Guest Editor The editorial theme for this issue of the OSBR is An open source business is a business centered The Business of Open Source. I am pleased to around an open source offer. Companies can en- welcome as Guest Editor, Michael Weiss, Associ- gage with open source projects in different ways: ate Professor in the Technology Innovation Man- they can release code as open source and hope agement program at Carleton University. to increase the adoption of their solution; they can contribute to community-initiated open The editorial theme for the upcoming February source projects and leverage the solutions the 2011 issue of the OSBR is Recent Research and community develops; they can offer comple- submissions will be accepted up to January 15th. mentary services and products that add value to an open source product; and they can reduce For the March issue, we have invited authors the cost and risk of product development by from the Research Forum to Understand Busi- pooling their non-core efforts with other com- ness in Knowledge Society (http://ebrf.fi) to con- panies. tribute to a special issue on Co-creation. The Guest Editors will be Stoyan Tanev from the Uni- This issue contains six articles. The first two art- versity of Southern Denmark and Marko Seppä icles discuss cost reduction through open from the University of Jyväskylä. source, and best practices for multi-vendor open source communities. The remaining articles For subsequent issues, we welcome general sub- were contributed by graduate students in a class missions on the topic of open source business or on Open Source Business in the Technology In- the growth of early-stage technology companies. novation Management program at Carleton Uni- Please contact me if you are interested in sub- versity in Ottawa (http://www.carleton.ca/tim). mitting an article ([email protected]). This course explored why companies participate in open source projects, how companies man- Chris McPhee age communities around their open source offers, and how companies make money from Editor-in-Chief the open source projects they initiated or con- tribute to. Chris McPhee is in the Technology Innovation Mark VonFange, Professional Services Manager Management program at Carleton University in at iXsystems, and Dru Lavigne, Director of Com- Ottawa. Chris received his BScH and MSc degrees munity Development for the PC-BSD Project, in Biology from Queen's University in Kingston, provide evidence of the increasing use of open following which he worked in a variety of man- source solutions in enterprise IT infrastructures. agement, design, and content development roles With its advancements in availability, usability, on science education software projects in Canada functionality, choice, and power, free/libre open and Scotland. source software (F/LOSS) provides a cost-effect- 3 January 2011 Open Source Business Resource http://www.osbr.ca Editorial Michael Weiss ive means for the modern enterprise to stream- execution of their product development line its operations. The article quantifies the be- strategy. Understanding the mechanisms of con- nefits associated with the use of open source trol inherent in open source projects and the be- software. nefits of hybrid approaches helps companies articulate those fears and make appropriate stra- Ian Skerrett, Director of Marketing at the Ec- tegic decisions to match their business object- lipse Foundation, identifies five best practices ives. for multi-vendor open source communities. Multi-vendor open source communities such as John Schreuders, Arthur Low, Kenneth Esprit, Eclipse, Apache, or Linux enable companies to and Nerva Joachim present Nokia’s Qt product lower development costs and gain access to (initially developed by Trolltech) as an example wider addressable markets. The article also dis- of a hybrid business model. They illustrate how cusses the importance of foundations in imple- the hybrid approach was implemented and the menting multi-vendor open source extent to which the approach has been effective communities. for Nokia. The Qt story illustrates how F/LOSS business models were developed during a period Michael Ayukawa, Mohammed Al-Sanabani, when participants were just beginning to under- and Adefemi Debo-Omidoku explore the rela- stand how to make money with open source. tionship between companies and open source communities. The article identifies the ways in Michael Weiss which companies can participate in open source communities and how they can benefit from en- Guest Editor gaging with the community. It also asks how open a company should be. Michael Weiss holds a faculty appointment in the Ali Kousari and Chris Henselmans weigh the be- Department of Systems and Computer Engineer- nefits and risks of companies moving from a ing at Carleton University, and is a member of private to a private-collective innovation model. the Technology Innovation Management pro- In this model, a company collaborates with oth- gram. His research interests include open source er companies by making its project public and, ecosystems, mashups/Web 2.0, business process in turn, may benefit from higher-quality, de- modeling, social network analysis, and product creased time to market, and maximized revenue. architecture and design. Michael has published on the evolution of open source communities, li- Robert Poole discusses how companies that rely censing of open services, and the innovation in on open source may fear losing control over the the mashup ecosystem. 4 January 2011 Open Source Business Resource http://www.osbr.ca IT Cost Optimization Through Open Source Software Mark VonFange and Dru Lavigne “Waste neither time nor money, but make the best use of both. Without industry and frugality, nothing will do, and with them everything.” Benjamin Franklin The cost of information technology (IT) as a percentage of overall operating and capital expenditures is growing as companies modernize their operations and as IT becomes an increasingly indispensable part of company resources. The price tag associated with IT infrastructure is a heavy one, and, in today's economy, com- panies need to look for ways to reduce overhead while maintaining quality opera- tions and staying current with technology. With its advancements in availability, usability, functionality, choice, and power, free/libre open source software (F/LOSS) provides a cost-effective means for the modern enterprise to streamline its operations. iXsystems wanted to quantify the benefits associated with the use of open source software at their company headquarters. This article is the out- growth of our internal analysis