Executive Summary (This is a document excerpt)

Firms are using open source software because they believe it will help them lower technology costs, escape vendor lock in, and increase flexibility. But working with open source is difficult for firms that are used to buying commercial software, in part because the open source movement hasn't focused on corporate needs that traditional software suppliers provide through a partner ecosystem. An open source ecosystem is emerging, however. Though this open source ecosystem is made up of many new types of organizations, such as communities and consortia, the organizations deliver the same four functions as closed source vendors: product development, distribution, services, and marketing. This map of open source players will enable firms to follow a practical approach to build their own open source ecosystem to suit their software needs.

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