"In th e past, innovation w as d e fine d
l
arge l
y b y cre ativity and th e d e ve l
opm e nt
of ne w id e as. Tod ay th e te rm e ncom passe s
coord inate d proje cts d ire cte d tow ard h on-
ing th e se id e as and conve rting th e m into
d e ve l
opm e nts th at b oost th e b ottom l
ine ."
H ow ard Sm ith , Com pu te r Scie nce s
Corporation
O ttaw a h as b e com e a sou rce of a rich se t
of k now l
e dge on al
l
aspe cts of ope n
sou rce . O ve r th e past tw o ye ars, th e re
h as b e e n a focu se d, col
l
ab orative e ffort
b e tw e e n indu stry and acade m ia to e x-
pl
ore and u nde rstand th e b u sine ss of
ope n sou rce . Th is joint re se arch e x-
am ine d th e dynam ics and val
u e proposi-
tions su rrou nding ope n sou rce and
e xpl
ore d th e non- cost val
u e s su ch as
stru ctu re , m e trics, appl
icab il
ity and trans-
form ation ch al
l
e nge s. O ne concl
u sion is
cl
e ar: ope n sou rce is a pow e rfu l
, ne w ,
com pe titive tool
th at can b e l
e ve rage d by
com panie s to appropriate val
u e .
Se ve ral
k e y insigh ts h ave e m e rge d. O ne
insigh t is th at ope n sou rce is a viab l
e
com pe titive b u sine ss tool
. Th is is op-
pose d to th e pre vail
ing indu stry pe rspe ct-
ive th at ope n sou rce is m e re l
y ab ou t fre e
softw are and th at com pany inte ractions
w ith ope n sou rce proje cts are l
im ite d to
de cre asing de ve l
opm e nt costs and sh ort-
e ning tim e to m ark e t.
Five Stage M ode l
W ork du ring 2006 e xam ine d com panie s'
inte ractions w ith ope n sou rce proje cts
and de ve l
ope d a u niq u e pe rspe ctive
arou nd val
u e cre ation and val
u e appro-
priation opportu nitie s. Th is re su l
te d in
th e cre ation of a M atu rity M ode l
th at e x-
pl
ains m u ch of th e dynam ics b e tw e e n
com panie s and ope n sou rce proje cts.
Th is 5 stage m ode l
(se e Figu re 1) ch arac-
te riz e d b oth th e e ngine e ring ce ntric b e -
h aviou r of com panie s th at l
e ve rage ope n
sou rce as w e l
l
as th e strate gic b u sine ss
approach th at e nab l
e s m ore m atu re pl
ay-
e rs to appropriate h igh e r val
u e .
Stage 1- Use : Th is stage focu se s on de ve l
-
opm e nt e fficie ncy. At th e m ost b asic l
e ve l
a com pany l
e ve rage s e xisting ope n
sou rce proje cts to re du ce de ve l
opm e nt
tim e and costs. In oth e r w ords, th e com -
pany is a u se r of ope n sou rce ; its e m pl
oy-
e e s u se F/LO SS (Fre e /Lib re O pe n Sou rce
Softw are ) and th e ope n sou rce com -
m u nity is ne ith e r h arm e d nor h e l
pe d by
th e com pany. W h il
e th e com pany w raps
u p its ow n val
u e arou nd F/LO SS, it
provide s no or l
ittl
e com pe titive val
u e .
H igh e r l
e ve l
s (stage 2 and 3) of m atu rity
re su l
t in contrib u tion or e ve n l
e ade rsh ip
of ope n sou rce proje cts in orde r to acce l
-
e rate th is R & D e ffe ctive ne ss val
u e .
Com petitive Open S ource
Figu re 1: Profits from e ach l
e ve l
of inte raction w ith ope n sou rce proje cts
4
