In the ten years since the term was coined, the development of open source software has moved from the garages of Silicon Valley to the mainstream. Many serious and valuable projects – from the Apache Server to MySQL databases – have been built using an open source model, which essentially promotes free and open online collaboration. While companies know there is plenty of gold to be found in the open source community, the chaos that surrounds it can be intimidating and unfamiliar. OpenLogic, a Broomfield, Colorado, based company, helps to bring order to this chaos through providing provisioning, support, and governance for a suite of over 500 open source products. Essentially, OpenLogic allows companies to capture the benefits of open source products in packaging that looks a lot more like traditional enterprise software solutions.
OpenLogic brings value to its corporate clients both by helping companies take stock of the open source products they are using as well as providing developer and production support on the products. According to OpenLogic CEO Steven Grandchamp, many clients do not fully understand the extent to which open source products have been integrated into their systems – his company has never received “a 100% accurate inventory” from a client accounting for the open source products in use. Oftentimes open source products first “come in through the back door,” even if the company maintains an official policy against adoption. Knowing what open source software is utilized by the company is essential to comply with the license, as noncompliance can lead to legal liability. Yet the licensing end can be tricky, as there exist several different open source licenses (e.g. GPL, MIT, Apache), each with somewhat different requirements regarding factors such as use and distribution. Compliance is especially difficult to navigate if any open source projects are incorporated into products shipped to or shared with strategic partners. Beyond helping companies take stock of their current open source position, OpenLogic also provides governance solutions that aid in the process of approval and deployment of new open source software as well as offering advice on potential new arenas in which to incorporate open source.
OpenLogic also brings value in providing a “one stop shop” in supporting many open source software products. Instead of the traditional community message board where users post questions, OpenLogic support looks much more like a help desk a customer would reach for proprietary software. In the support arena, OpenLogic sees some competition from several venture backed companies, but differentiates itself through the breadth of products it supports.
The use of open source by large companies is growing, with more firms deploying open source solutions for a broader set of purposes. While a company may start incorporating open source via the Linux operating system, use at many companies has moved up the layers and is now employed in “mission critical applications.” Grandchamp cites two key drivers behind customer adoption of open source: “cost-savings and the speed and flexibility with which solutions can be deployed.” The former reason is one that plays well in the current economic climate. While the trend toward open source is not a new phenomenon, Grandchamp notes that “the current economy is helping accelerate the trend.” OpenLogic managed to achieve impressive growth in excess of 30% last year, which is not to say that the current economic environment does not present challenges to the company. Grandchamp states that while OpenLogic’s lead quality is up, it can be hard to get the go ahead to undertake an open source project as many companies find it “difficult to fund a brand new initiative” in the current cost-cutting mentality.
Grandchamp forecasts the software of the future as “mixed source,” with companies evaluating situations for the best fit among open source and proprietary solutions. In any case, the day has probably passed when large companies can pretend that open source is not being deployed within their systems. With this knowledge, companies are best served by carefully managing the open source products they use to ensure compliance and providing their employees the necessary support to use it effectively – all services OpenLogic is well positioned to provide.
