Enterprises View Open Source As A Key Tactic For Strategic Software Initiatives

Forrester's Enterprise And SMB Software Survey, North America And Europe, Q3 2007, separated Linux from other open source software and found that current usage dropped dramatically from previous studies. However, overall interest was exactly the same as last year's study, so we conclude that other open source software is trailing Linux in production deployments but not interest. We also found that open source is not a high priority among strategic software initiatives, appearing to be more of a tactic for achieving the high-priority initiatives, such as implementing enterprise collaboration strategies, adopting SOA, and implementing Web 2.0. Barriers to open source adoption remain constant. However, for Linux and all other open source software, service/support and security remain the two top concerns among enterprises. If open source is going to continue to be an important tactical tool, the open source ecosystem must address these concerns.