White Paper on Open Source Software for The Enterprise · White Paper on Open Source Software for The Enterprise ... Also Referred to as Community Edition (CE) Enterprise Edition

White Paper onOpen Source Software for The Enterprise

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Contents

Executive Summary............................................................................................................. 02

Open Source – Definitions and Economic Model..................................................................03

Evolution of Open Source................................................................................................... 04

Community vs. Commercial Open Source Software............................................................. 04

Impact on the Enterprise..................................................................................................... 05

Open Source Adoption Strategy.......................................................................................... 06

Open Source Options......................................................................................................... 06

Case Studies.......................................................................................................................07

Way forward.......................................................................................................................08

Conclusion......................................................................................................................... 09

References..........................................................................................................................09

1


Executive SummaryThe Open Source Software (OSS) vs. Proprietary Software (PS) competitive landscape is constantly changing. This white paper provides an overview of Open Source Software, looks at its implications for the enterprise and benefits associated with OSS and concludes with considerations when adopting OSS.

Executive Summary

2


Definitions and Economic ModelOpen Source has developed into one of the transformational IT trends. The market has significantly expanded with a growing user base and revolutionized development methodologies, business models, etc. across the globe.

Definition: The most basic definition of Open Source Software (OSS) is a program for which the source code is available. The advent of OSS has not only resulted in lower total cost of software ownership (TCO) for adopters, but has also created a major disruption in the traditional software space.

OSS is software that is distributed under a license that provides the buyer the user a perpetual use license without cost, including the ability to modify and use the software freely. The opposite of OSS is proprietary software, which is

[1]distributed under a license that restricts to a much greater extent what the buyer can do with it.

The traditional proprietary software model is currently in the midst of a paradigm shift. Open Source software, which until recently was considered only for academia or research or development projects has become the 'change agent'.

Enterprise-ready Commercial Open Source products are changing the way the enterprise adopts new solutions with low or no license fees; installation occur in days not weeks, minimal annual maintenance fees and most importantly, ownership of the source code.

Apart from better performance, reliability, scalability, security, support, a clearly defined upgrade path and indemnification, Open Source reduces the lifetime cost of the application by 50% – 70% (across hardware, implementation, upgrades, administration & support) over proprietary technologies. Another remarkable factor supporting the growing OSS adoption is the ability to integrate easily with external systems compared to proprietary technologies. Other benefits include faster turn-around time in gathering business requirements, adaptable to business changes, better risk mitigation, and freedom from vendor lock-in & licensing and flexibility.

Open Source Software can be categorized as Community and Commercial Open Source Software

Community Open Source is software that a community develops and maintains. Rather than a single corporate entity owning the software, a broad community of volunteers determines the important decisions regarding the software like future roadmap, contributions to be accepted into the source code, as in the case of the Apache Web server ( )

Commercial Open Source is software that a “for-profit” entity owns and develops. The entity maintains the copyright and determines what is accepted into the software code base and the decisions regarding the same as in the case of

[2]MySQL and its MySQL database ( ).

Community OSS

Commercial OSS

http://httpd.apache.org/

www.mysql.com

Open Source – Definitions and Economic Model

3


Evolution of Open Source

Community vs. Commercial Open Source Software

Though the adoption of OSS has been slow relative to other technologies seen in the past, in recent times, Open Source Software (OSS) adoption has been experiencing a very robust growth globally — with OSS revenues that was expected to reach $5.8 billion in 2011. Gartner predicts that by 2016, almost all software makers will have some

Evolution of Open Source

4

Collaborative work in 1960s led to birth of Internet

Inception of GNU Project & Free Software Foundation on East Coast to develop a new free OS

Birth of Linux Kernel in Finland. Linux Kernel with GNU applications covered by GPL

Stability achieved on Linux. Evolutions of this include Redhat, SUSE, Mandrake, Debian, Slackware,... Evolution of

Apache, Perl, Mozilla, etc.

Public acceptance gained by Linux & BSD

Birth of "Commercial Open Source" to differentiate with free software(community)

2005 -

Onwards

Widespread

Adoption

Geneva 2005:POLICIES OF

UNITED NATIONS

SYSTEM

ORGANIZATIONS

TOWARDS THE

USE OF OPEN

SOURCE

SOFTWARE (OSS)

FOR

DEVELOPMENT

Report :

www.unjiu.org/data/repo

rts/2005/en2005_7.pdf

1960's 1970's Early 1990’s Mid 1990’s Late 1990’s 2000’s

Birth of the Internet

Efforts at UC, Berkley - BSD Unix

Freed BSD Unix from copyrighted AT&T Licenses - roll out of 386 BSD

Stability on 386BSD. Evolutions include NetBSD, FreeBSD, Open BSD

The term "Open Source" coined.


Parameters Open Source Software (OSS) Commercial Open Source S/W (COSS)

Also Referred to as Community Edition (CE) Enterprise Edition (EE)

Cost to Customer Free License/Subscription/Support Fee based

Licensed by No license. Freeware. Software Vendor

Developed by Community Community + Product Team

Roadmap decided by Community Product Team, Customer requirements, Community

Supported by Community Software Vendor

Characteristics Community is responsible for Software Vendor ensures Performance, Quality & Security enterprise-class Performance, Scalability, related features High Availability, Quality & Security

requirements

Service Levels None Clearly defined Support, Bug fixes, Indemnification, Certifying Stacks, Release Intervals, etc.

Miscellaneous Some Software vendors have the EE as a superset of features available in CE

Table 1: Comparison of Open Source versus Commercial Open Source

Open Source applications or code within their products and, 99% of the Global 2000 will be using some form of Open Source software, as well, Gartner predicts that organizations outside of the software and technical vertical will leverage OSS as a core component of their business strategy to gain a competitive advantage.

Demand for Open Source has gained considerable momentum since the economic meltdown in 2008. Organizations now consider an Open Source adoption strategy which would minimize risk and ensure business continuity with benefits of reduced TCO, control over software assets. CIGNEX Datamatics recommends an Open Source Adoption Model (OSAM) drawing from over 200 implementations globally since 2000.

Impact on the Enterprise

Open Source Adoption Strategy

Proprietary software generally provides a per user or per server price scheme. In addition to the software costs, organizations need to consider the total lifetime cost, i.e. the operating cost that includes the expense for maintenance and support of the software.

By Comparison, the Commercial Open Source application providers only change for the ongoing maintenance annually via an annual subscription fee without any up front software fees.

Disruptive Change

It is disputable whether Open Source has been a Evaluate Commercial and Open Source Software [4]disruptive technology, but no one can dispute that it Options Using a Multiyear Cost Profile.

has created a change for the better. It has changed the rules of the game forcing the proprietary software

Example of a simple three-year formula for annualized vendors to follow. Evidence of this is seen in the new total cost of ownership (TCO).offer from proprietary software makers to trial or

obtain a hand on demo instance of the software.

In addition to the software, Open Source as a collective has also spawned a new approaches to development that are now best practices that are being adopted worldwide.

Enterprise Ready Integration ToolsThe savings are significant and worth a close look while

A survey conducted by Open Source data integration contemplating a new solution. For example, the 5 year providers Talend found that 31.2% of organizations cost for adopting a commercially backed version of use Open Source tools with commercial application Drupal is 2-5% of the total cost of a proprietary WCM

[5]for Data Integration. Ease of use, Performance, No application. As well; a comparative study by Alfresco Vendor Lock-in and licensing costs were understood to signifies that in the first year alone Alfresco saves up to

[3][6]be the key drivers for using Open Source Tools. 96% in costs compared to other major players!

The above survey can be related with the reception of Big Data technologies like Hadoop, MongoDB etc in organizational technology environment. Open Source integration tools are finding their space as they are increasingly adopted, these technology are expected to revolutionize the data management systems in the next 10-15 years.

Lower TCO

Total Cost of Ownership is one of the key reasons why organizations consider Open Source.

More importantly, Proprietary Software Licensing has 2 components.

1. Software Fees to purchase the software itself and obtain a proper use license

2. Ongoing Support/Maintenance - Annual payments that provides customer access to upgrades, patches and other releases by the vendor

Impact on the Enterprise | Open Source Adoption Strategy

5

Capital Expenses + 3 x (Operational Expenses)

3TCO =

Capital Expenses = Hardware acquisition + software license acquisition

Operation Expenses = maintenance + power + labour + indirect costs


Open Source Options For just about every available proprietary technology, there is an Open Source alternative. The maturity of the OSS alternative depends on the application platform and community base of the vendor. The table below provides a simple representation of how OSS has proliferated the traditional solutions space.

Open Source Options

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CIGNEX Datamatics Open Source Adoption Model

Proprietary Software* Open Source Software*

Operating System Unix, IBM, AIX, Windows Linux

Database Oracle, DB2, SQL-Server, Sybase MySQL, Ingres, PostGreSQL

Middleware,Application Server Oracle, BEA, Microsoft, IBM JBOSS, Tomcat

Dev Tools Oracle, Jbuilder, IBM, Microsoft EclipseVisualstudio

Infrastructure IBM, VMware, Oracle Redhat, ZenSource

EAI, SOA TIBCO, SAP, Microsoft, IBM FuseSource, Mule Source

DW & BI Oracle, BQ, SAP, Cognos, IBM, MicroStr, PentahoMS

WCM Fatwire, Ektron, MB Drupal, Alfresco, Liferay, Plone

ECM Documentum, IBM Filenet, OpenText, AlfrescoOracle, Microsoft

ERP & CRM Oracle, SAP, IBM Compiere,OpenBravo, Adempiere

Portals BEA, IBM, BV, SAP, Oracle, Vignette Liferay, JBoss, eXo and many more

Social Collaboration Jive, IBM, Microsoft Sharepoint Drupal, Liferay, Yammer, Facebook, Twitter, OpenText etc.

Mobile SMS MS, Wap2Go, IBM, Oracle Drupal, Liferay

BPM IBM, Oracle, SAP Intalio. JBPM

E-Commerce ATG, IBM, Click Com, Sterling Com, MagentoDemandware

Identity Management MS, Oracle, IBM, CA Technologies OpenLDAP, CAS, OpenIAM

Scanner, Fax, Device Integration Kofax, eCopy, EMC, Xerox, IBM Ephesoft

Email Integration Microsoft, IBM, Lotus Notes Alfresco, Opsera

*All other trademarks are the property of their respective ownersTable 2: Proprietary Solutions vs Open Source Alternatives

Information Oriented(Non-critical)

Transactional/Mission-critical

Expand Open Source

Adoption

Pilot, Test Drive,

Migrate

Web Retail Sites

Product / CMSWebsites

Social Media

Static Websites/ Extranet Portals

Core Banking,

Internet Banking

Manufacturing

Process

Automation,...

Doc. & RightsManagement

Workflow basedApplications

Corp. Social Network

Intranet Portals

BI

CRM

IMS (Invoice Management System)

CLMS (Contract Lifecycle Mgmt. System)

External

Internal

Candidate for

Immediate Migration

Confidence in

Open Source

Cloud

Nature of Application

Targ

et

Au

die

nce


Case StudiesGrupo Posadas Reduces Website Cost of Ownership by 40%

Rise of popular internet-based travel sites and growing competition raised varied challenges on Grupo Posadas. Low RevPAR (Revenue per Available Room), challenges in online promotion for customers and partners and lack of emotional connection among the guests and its brands Posadas needed to build a stronger online presence for customers and drift from the existing decentralized legacy Web strategy which made it difficult to respond to evolving business practices. The existing Proprietary Legacy Solution based websites were cumbersome to manage, lacked appropriate workflows and made updating content a complex process. Data redundancy across multiple sites returned inaccurate search results and drastically brought down the performance.

In order to provide a richer online experience, the company needed an integrated web strategy based on open standards that would provide flexible and cost effective internet architecture for years to come

Posadas selected CIGNEX Datamatics, a global leader in Enterprise Open Source Solutions and Platinum Partner to both Alfresco and Liferay, to build and implement an Integrated Content Management Portal (ICMP) leveraging the strengths of Alfresco enterprise content management (ECM) and Liferay 6, an open source portal and social collaboration solution.

Within six months, CIGNEX Datamatics successfully implemented Phase One of the Alfresco and Liferay ICMP which can now support over 2,000 content users and 750 concurrent content users within organization. With the open, flexible architecture, CIGNEX Datamatics can customize the company portals to fit its evolving business needs. CIGNEX Datamatics also included robust security in each portal with data encryption, audit/compliance reporting and advanced access controls with secure access to legacy systems.

CIGNEX Datamatics implemented Liferay & Alfresco Implementation for eight hotel brands. The new portals provide a personalized experience for potential guests and have been well received by online users. For the Posadas marketing and web team, it was easier to manage and publish content in multiple languages and to pass through a defined publishing workflow in the matter of minutes.

Since the launch of the new portals, the company has seen its revenue per room rates increase. In addition to improving the company's brand recognition, the new portal is extremely cost effective. .

Posadas has experienced a 40% reduction in total cost of ownership with the new Alfresco and Liferay based implementation over its previous legacy solution.

UBMi consolidated web portal using Open Source

UBMi had multiple website technology platforms including Webvision, Contribute, Miramedia, Emojo, ASP etc. across their 100+ web brands. This resulted in shortage of resources for these technologies & associated tools and therefore inability in accommodating changes to web content timely. Multiple platforms contributed to exponential increase in costs in the form of licensing, maintenance and support model. Heavy dependency on vendors without access to source code put UBMi in huge business risk. They had to inherit the limitations of their platform provider hence content sharing across channels was restrictive, time-consuming and heavily expensive.

Case Studies

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UBMi conducted extensive evaluation and compared various technology platforms including Liferay, Episerver, Sitecore, Miramedia, Squizz and ASP. Liferay 5.2 was chosen as the preferred Portal and Web Content Management for developing next generation websites and CIGNEX Datamatics as the system integration partner. During a 20 month time frame, UBMi rolled out over 70 websites across multiple business units using Liferay.

Enhanced CMS functionality in segregating web content, communities, document/image libraries, SEO friendly pages, content tagging using RSS generators, multiple image uploading, Flash display, FCK Editor and Filterable Google like search were some key features of the solution.

Through Liferay Portal and CMS Solution, UBMi significantly reduced time to roll out new websites. Collaboration across sharing of content, onsite management of information, ability to track changes reduced time to make updates and modifications. Cost reduction was another benefit since UBMi no longer had to maintain the budget outlay for licenses, maintenance and support.

Define a policy framework

Policies will play a crucial role in guiding decision makers on the adoption of Open Source Software. These Frameworks should include guidelines pertaining to intellectual property, regulations governing contributions to external projects, and an approved vendor/project list.

Select the right partner

Open Source is a tremendous technological feat that nurtures innovation. There are more than 200,000 Open Source Software options for an organization to choose from but only the right partner helps the organization to minimize risk and reduce adoption time by suggesting the ideal enterprise-ready Open Source Software. Enterprises can also save time and money by reusing the code/features created by the partner.

The ideal partner should be able to

Educate the Enterprise on the Benefits of OSS adoption, costs and contributions & how the pitfalls in the legacy system can be addressed.

Advise the Enterprise regarding the Partial and Complete Adoption Practices, OSS tools, best practices, development methodology to be adopted, etc.

Manage the transition in an efficient manner with adherence to business objectives, quality & timelines; integrate with existing legacy applications; ensure the achievement of projected benefits, provide post-implementation support.

Way Forward

Way Forward

8

Educate

Advise

Manage

Benefits ofOpen Source

TransitionIntegration

AdoptionPartialComplete


Points to ponder[6]• “Open Source is free like free speech, not as in Free Beer”

• Open Source development models vary in comparison to traditional

• Before selecting Open Source, a CIO should thoroughly understand the licensing model and should make sure it is in line with their business

• Adoption of any technology may require retooling of people and certainly learning and change management

• Open Source Software has progressed very rapidly in feature richness, scalability, security and quality. Late adopters of IT solutions across all verticals are moving to OSS, resulting in elevation of the open source option as standard and inclusive in comparative application cycles.

• Open Source business applications are becoming an integral part of IT strategy, across the board.

• Open Source offers potential to IT organizations to dramatically lower costs and improve business competitiveness.

[1] Open Source Shows Promise for Business Apps - accessed on 25th June, 2011

[2] The Economic Motivation of Open Source Software: Stakeholder Perspectives by Dirk Riehle, SAP Research accessed on: 25th June, 2011

[3] Open Source Integration Tools are Enterprise Ready accessed on 5th Mar,2012

[4] February 2009 “Best Practices: Improve Development Effectiveness through Strategic Adoption Of Open Source” by Jeffrey S. Hammond

[5] TCO for Open Source Social Publishing: Going Beyond Social Business Software by Acquia Drupal

[6] Total Cost of Ownership for Enterprise Content Management by Alfresco

[7] GNU Operating System: Open Source Definition

Conclusion

Referenceshttp://www.computereconomics.com/article.cfm?id=1397

http://www.infoworld.com/t/platforms/open-source-integration-tools-are-enterprise-ready-209

http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html

Conclusion | References

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About CIGNEX Datamatics, Inc. (www.cignex.com):CIGNEX Datamatics (subsidiary of Datamatics Global Services Ltd.) is the global leader in Commercial Open

Source & SAP Connect solutions. For over 10 years, CIGNEX Datamatics has provided Open Source solutions addressing enterprise requirements across Content Management, Portals & Social Collaboration, e-Commerce, Document Management, Records Management, Digital Asset Management, Business Process Management, Business Intelligence & Analytics, ERP, CRM, Enterprise Mobility and SOA. The company has expertise in applications and tools such as Alfresco, Liferay, SAP, Magento, Sybase, Adobe, Pentaho, Compiere, Drupal, Intalio, JBoss, Mulesource, etc.

CIGNEX Datamatics focuses on addressing key challenges faced by CIOs today including:

• integrating Open Source solutions with existing line of business solutions

• managing the contradictory demands of reducing IT spend while rolling out new solutions

Over the years, CIGNEX Datamatics has helped in improving client profitability by delivering solutions to over 200 global customers using Onsite, Offsite and Offshore delivery models. Headquartered in Santa Clara, CA, CIGNEX Datamatics has offices in Colorado, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Texas, United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, Bosnia, India, Singapore and Australia.


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White Paper on Open Source Software for The Enterprise · White Paper on Open Source Software for The Enterprise ... Also Referred to as Community Edition (CE) Enterprise Edition