Made popular by the Linux operating system, open source software has the reputation of being a product of rebellious programmers out to fight proprietary giants like Microsoft, Sun, Oracle and the like, and hasn't necessarily been considered a viable alternative by growing companies. In recent years, the open source community has continued to develop at an increasing pace and has gained the confidence of consumers worldwide. Open source software solutions are ready for primetime in many areas of the business information technology infrastructure, and in many cases open source alternatives better fit the business and financial needs of companies.

Companies of all sizes are adopting open source software for a variety of reasons and needs. The continued development of open source applications has made it so these applications are able to handle the mission critical tasks organizations need to stay competitive. No longer do businesses need to look to large, proprietary software vendors for solutions. Open source software is becoming so competitive that over the last few years, the large vendors like IBM, HP, Sun, and even Microsoft are utilizing open source software for new products and services.

The attraction of open source software is that, in many cases, it's free to use, modify, and redistribute, and there are no license fees. There now exists a development community of over 800,000 programmers who continually work to improve software and are generally ready and willing to fix any bugs much faster than a proprietary vendor would. At the end of the day, a company may save millions of dollars ?and a significant amount of time - by going the open source route.

While companies can see tremendous benefits going with an open source solution, it does not mean that all solutions are perfect or appropriate for every situation. In some cases open source software cannot meet the requirements that proprietary software can. Like any information technology project, businesses need to first understand their needs and requirements when looking to find the solution that will meet them.

Why develop free software? The Open Source Community
The key to the success of the open source movement has been the community of developers that have spent countless hours developing, supporting, and using the software they've built. It is this community of developers who brainstorm, develop, fix and enhance the many thousands of open source software projects that have been and are currently being used and developed. While one might assume that people in this business are mostly motivated by money, this is a community motivated more by solving problems, benefiting the greater good, and, in many cases, becoming a star in the development community.

Open source software allows for tremendous levels of innovation mainly because it allows developers to experiment with products they wouldn't use if they cost money. Even if a piece of software were to cost as little as $30, that amount typically has to be approved, and in many cases the developer won't bother to go through the hassle when looking to experiment with solutions. But when the software is free, there's no need for approval, and the only inherent risk in this transaction if the testing fails is lost time.

By free exchange of software, there is also the free exchange of ideas and feedback in a hassle-free, open environment not bogged down by contracting limits or licensing fees. Those testing the software have access to thousands of free information nodes, and the support network is incomparable. In short, the very nature of open source software leads to unrestricted collaboration, which in turn leads to high levels of innovation.

The following section discusses some of the benefits companies are realizing by adopting open source software. Read on >>

Sponsored by: