The Social Factor: FLOSS Communities, Organizations and ... · The Eclipse Roadmap Process Bylaws Strategic Developers, Strategic Consumers, Add-in Providers, ... • Libre Software

The Social Factor: FLOSS Communities, Organizations and

Business EcosystemsPresentation for CNRS - Ecole ENVOLPresentation for CNRS - Ecole ENVOLCedric ThomasCedric ThomasCEO

www.ow2.org

October 2008

http://www.ow2.org/

3© OW2 Co n s o rtiu m 2 0 0 8 www.ow2.org

OW2 in one slide

Building on the legacy of ObjectWeb and OrientWare,

OW2 is a global open-source software community dedicated to ...developing open source code

middleware and... ...to fostering a vibrant community

and business ecosystem. Our ambition:

Establish leadership in the middleware market at large through open source code

Build an organization with the financial resource to operate autonomously

Provide a platform where developers share world class open source software


Agenda

FLOSS Essentials

FLOSS Communities

FLOSS Organizations

FLOSS Business Ecosystems

© OW2 Co n s o rtiu m 2 0 0 8 www.ow2.org

What is Open Source Software?

Free access

Source code

Modification allowed


Free Software Makes Sense

The real cost of an IT solution: Software only 4.6% of the total cost over five years.

Knowing that, why not give away the software if it can bring more market share?

IT solution cost breakdown over five years

StaffingDowntimeTrainingSoftwareHardwareOutsourcing

<10% of the total cost of a project


Open Source is Economically Efficient

What you give

Software code

What you gain

Free expertise Experience Market share

€£

$CNY


Open Source is Technically Efficient

Quality

Peer review

Time to Market

Frequent releases

State of the Art

Global knowledge sharing


Open Source is Socially Efficient

Grows local expertise

Empowers the commnunity

Maintains national independance


Open Source is Strategically Efficient

For Vendors

Outsider's initiative New rules weaken leaders

For Users

Avoids vendor lock-in Investment protection


More About Open Source

Eric Raymond

Van Lindberg

Steven Weber


Agenda

FLOSS Essentials

FLOSS Communities

FLOSS Organizations



Open Source Communities

<<

Huihoo

TopCased


Project Community Example: CMI


Open Source Communities Fundamentals

Rooted in academic communities Build on other

people's work Peer review of your

work Publish your work to

allow reviewBenefits

Collaboration Innovation Diversity

Share Code Ideas Documentation Feature specs. etc.

Motivations Passion Develop skills Fun Status Recognition Learning Career etc.


Open Source Communities: Participants Roles

Communities at large: Developers Users Marketers Evangelists Investors Sales people etc.

Community hierarchy Project leader Maintainers

• Lead project subsets Committers

• Access code base Contributors

• Bug fixes• Doc• Specs• etc

Users• idem


Hierarchy Example: Linux (OSDL)


Reasons for Contributing are Pragmatic

Source: Karim L. Lakhani, 2005, Sloan School of Management


Open Source Projects are Exciting for Hackers



A Questionable Result:



Paid Contributors Adapt Code to Their Needs



Four Major Contributor Segments



Contributors Are Mostly Experienced Professionals



Karim Lakhani's Summary



Agenda

FLOSS Essentials

FLOSS Communities

FLOSS Organizations



Open Source Organizations

Apache Foundation

Open Source InitiativePython Foundation


Members Have Expectations

Marketing guidance

Technology exchanges

Architecture frameworks

Participation in large projects

Market credibility

Increased corporate value

Technology independence

Access to international market

Best practices

Lobbying

Legal guidance


Members Evaluate ROI Elements

Increased visibilityNew customers

Development cost sharing

Access to expertiseTechnology alignmet

Time to market

Publicly financed programs

New partners

New markets penetration

De facto standards


Members Contribute in Various Forms

Code contribution

Succes stories

SpecificationsExperience feed-back

Marketing investmentExpertise

Project leadership

Fees


Code Base

FLOSS Organization Structure Overview (after OW2)

Community

Activities

Governance

Membership Fees


Typical Open Source Organization Value Proposal

Technical infrastructure

Governance framework

Brand and identity

Forge Code repository Mailing lists

Project cycle monitoring Technical vision IP policy Decision process

Web site Conference Press releases


First layer of the Value Proposal: Technical Infrastructure

ForgeDevelopers tools

SVN CVS Bug tracker

Binary repositoryMailing listsWeb siteWikiDownload

architectureCode signature

facility

Software forges GForge

• NovaForge• JoomlaCode.org

LibreSource• INRIA, Artenum

SourceForge savannah.gnu.org

• gnu CodePlex

• Microsoft RubyForge Codendi (ex Codex)

• Xerox


OW2 Technical Infrastructure


Expected Uptime 24/7/365

Mailing listsMOBoardCouncilsActivities

Web pagesProjectsInitiativesLocal Chapters

ForgeCode managementDownloadsStatisticsWeb site linkage

IdentitiesRightsProfiles


Second layer of the Value Proposal: Governance System

Principles Democratic Transparent Open Fair etc.

Benefits Predictability Consistency Legal responsibility

Structure has entities for: Decision Operation Guidance

Supports process: Decision process Project life cycles

Documented in: Bylaws IPR Policy Membership Agreements Charters Etc.


Example: The OW2 Governance Model

Ecosystem

Technology

Operations

ManagementOffice (MO)

Openness, Fairness, Trust, Transparency, Independence

CouncilorsCouncils

DirectorsBoard of Directors

OfficersManagement Office

ManagersActivities Management Teams

Board of Directors

Local Chapter Management Team

Initiative Management Team

Project Management Team


•Purposes

Example: The Eclipse Roadmap Process

Bylaws

Strategic Developers, Strategic Consumers, Add-in Providers,

•Suggestions•Concerns

Ecosystem• Requirements, Themes and Priorities • Roadmap

RequirementsCouncil

• Architecture Plan

ArchitectureCouncil

• Platform Release Plan

PlanningCouncil

• Project Plan

Project Lead

• Roadmap review

Board of Directors

The process of producing or updating the Roadmap is expected to be iterative. An initial set of Themes and Priorities may be infeasible to implement in the desired timeframe; subsequent consideration may reveal new implementation alternatives or critical requirements that alter the team’s perspective on priorities. The EMO orchestrates interaction among and within the three Councils to drive the Roadmap to convergence.


Third layer of the Value Proposal: Marketing and Communication

Objective Build a brand Develop an identity

Collateral Fact sheet Executive overview General prez Project datasheets Case studies Goodies Logos etc.

Events Exhibitions Conferences Community meetings

Communication Web site Press releases Interviews White papers Presentations etc.


Main OW2 Events in 2008

• OW2 Quarterly Meetings• Qualipso Conference• Solution Linux• CEBIT• ECLIPSEcon• BI Forum• OSBC• PAAL • W3C• JavaOne• Forum PA 08• Linux Days• Linux Tag• Italy Roadshow• FOSS Bridge• Libre Software Meeting• OSCON• Open Day BI• Paris Capitale du Libre• Open Source Camp• OW2 China Roadshow• IPA Annual Conference• Open World Forum• Javoxx (JavaPolis)• ServiceWave (NESSI)

JAN FEB MAR OCT NOV DECJUL AUG SEPAPR MAY JUN

RomaGrenoble

HanoverSanta Clara

ParisSFO

SardiniaBeijing

SFORoma

GenevaBerlinItaly

Viet NamFrancePortland

ParisParis

GuangzhouBeijingChina

ParisAntwerp

Tokyo

Italy

ParisParis

Paris

Madrid

Liuzhou




Agenda

FLOSS Essentials

FLOSS Communities

FLOSS Organizations



Value Chain and Business Ecosystem

Value Chain Downstream flow of

added value Vendor-Buyer

relationships Quantitative rationale

Business Ecosystem Value-added sharing Coopetition

relationships Qualitative rationale

Efficiency – Differentiation – Customer Ownership Network Externalities


Coopetition


Example: Coopetition in Open Source Middleware

Industry

Finance

Etc.

Utilities

Retail

Governm

ent

Health C

are

Infrastructure

Business solutionCompetition

Cooperation

Open Source

ProprietaryModels


Ecosystem Strategies

•Keystone•Dominator•Niche Player


Social Capital

•Shared beliefs, values, expectations


Leading Industry Player

Software Vendor, ISV, Start-Up

Systems Integrator

End-User

Leading Research Organization

Academia

Individual

Business Ecosystems Stakeholders

Expectations

ROI

Contributions


Example: OW2 Members14 Strategic Members, 45 Corporate Members 980 Individual Members as of October 2008

Strategic Members1. Alcatel Lucent2. Beihang U.3. Bull SAS4. CVIC SE5. DOCSC6. Engineering7. France Telecom8. INRIA9. ISCAS10. NUDT11. Peking U.12. Red Hat13. SERPRO14. Thales

Corporate Members Academia

1. Free U.2. GET3. U. of Fortaleza

Research Labs1. Charles U.2. CNRS-IMAG3. Fraunhofer FOKUS4. GMRC5. LIG6. NJUPT

MICROs1. Altic2. Arctic.Park3. Experlog4. Konsultex5. Neociclo6. Obeo7. Orbeon8. Oxymel9. Requea10. Scalagent11. Ubikis12. Skiftex13. XPerNet

LORGs1. Min. Interieur2. Placenet.cn 3. Sogeti

SMORGs1. Arimaan2. Avane3. EBM WebSourc.4. Edifixio5. eteration6. European

Dynamics7. eXo Platform8. HISP VietNam9. Funambol10. Ingres11. Iona12. Intervision13. Linagora14. Linalis15. Open Wide16. Serli17. Talend18. Tarent19. TongTech


Activities Support the Business Ecosystem Relationships

Projets Technology

relationships

Initiatives Marketing

relationships

Chapitres Locaux Community

relationships


A Long-Term Evolution

2005 2006 2007 2008

Expectations identificationESB Initiative model

OW2 plan definitionDefinition of the OW2 InitiativeInitial work on SOA, Telco, eGov Initiatives

OW2 LaunchSOA, eGov Initiatives charters

BI Initiative LaunchHimalaya Program


Critical Mass


Complexity CoordinationCommunication


Average Manager


OW2: a Business Ecosystem Platform

Academia

Individuals

Companies

Government

Systems IntegratorsSoftware Vendors

Developers Users

Use / IntegratesFeed-back

ReuseContributions


Take Away

FLOSS Essentials FLOSS is efficient: technically, economically,

strategically and sociallyFLOSS Communities

Fragmented and dynamic bottom-up momentumFLOSS Organizations

Governance in the FLOSS bazarFLOSS Business Ecosystems

Qualitative relationships support the FLOSS business model


Join the OW2 Business Ecosystem

www.ow2.orgwww.ow2.org

For more informationsPlease contact

Cedric Thomas (CEO)cedric thomas @ ow2 org


Competition and Cooperation

Competition Price Quality Innovation Etc.

Cooperation Technical standards Market definition Business practices Lobbying New entrey

deterrence Margin protection

Improve competitive positioning of the firm Build competitive positioning of the group

Competition and cooperation can alternate (competititon-cooperation sequences) or be simultaneous (focusing on different areas)


Three Key Roles in Ecosystems

Dominator Tend to eliminate other firms, integration

efficiency, but donot share, do not create sustainable opportunities for their partners

Niche player Fuel the ecosystem burgeoning, specialized

players, efficient segmen focus, leverage keystone platforms, technology differentiation

Keystones Regulate the ecosystem, highly interconnected,

altruits, foster diversity, help grow the ecosystem value, provide a generic platform

Documents

The Social Factor: FLOSS Communities, Organizations and ... · The Eclipse Roadmap Process Bylaws Strategic Developers, Strategic Consumers, Add-in Providers, ... • Libre Software