Jan-Jan van Der VyverJan-Jan van Der Vyver


The enterprise open source wave is growing – from the bottom up and top down, delegates heard at the Linux Warehouse Enterprise Open Source Executive Forum in Johannesburg recently.

Speakers at the event noted that even where enterprises did not officially seek out open source solutions, their techies were already implementing them in various areas. In other cases, global, and leading local, enterprises were seeking out the benefits of open source at director level.

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van Staden" rel=tag>Muggie van Staden" />, managing director of LSD Information Technology, said enterprise open source should not be seen in the context for ‘free’ from cost – it should be seen in the context of ‘freedom’ to enable integration and innovation. “Now, enterprises are starting to understand these benefits, and they are taking enterprise open source more seriously. It’s a good time for open source,” he said.

Dr , MD of Linux Warehouse, noted: “We are seeing ‘land and expand’ when it comes to enterprise open source – enterprises adopt a specific solution to meet a particular need, then go on to grow their enterprise open source stack.”

“Enterprise open source is happening now, and it is moving up the stack through applications and middleware. Businesses can either put their heads in the sand, or embrace it,” said van der Vyver. “When businesses embrace enterprise open source they reap significant advantages, eg, increased ability to innovate.”

Sven LesicnikSven Lesicnik

However, a key difference between enterprise open source and community open source was that community open source did not focus on enterprise risk and governance, noted Muggie van Staden, managing director of Obsidian.

The speakers said the technology advantages of open source were proven, but that governance and risk had to be considered too. Risk advisory expert said the same IT governance and risk principles needed to be applied to open source as to any other IT, which meant unmanaged software should be avoided. Because enterprise open source is accompanied by effective patch and management, and supported by manuals and training, enterprise open source is a better option for companies with a normal risk profile, he noted.

The speakers agreed that with business units rushing to benefit from open source solutions – sometimes even bypassing their own IT departments to do so – processes and procedures need to be put in place to ensure that enterprises get optimal benefi ts from open source. In addition, businesses should seek out a combination of proprietary and enterprise open source solutions in a hybrid model that is the right fit for them, they said.