Stage 2- Contrib u te : Th is stage occu rs
w h e n th e com pany m ove s b e yond pass-
ive u se r to col
l
ab orator. M anage rs b e gin
to contrib u te code to and/or fu nd th e
ope n sou rce proje ct. Th is b e ne fits th e
com m u nity and e nh ance s th e softw are
distrib u tion. H ow e ve r, th e re is a ve ry nar-
row b u sine ss focu s, l
ittl
e rival
ry, and a
l
oose com pany- com m u nity cou pl
ing.
Stage 3- Ch am pion: At th is stage e xe cu t-
ive s provide su pport and a k now n l
e ade r
to ch am pion th e de ve l
opm e nt of th e
ope n sou rce proje ct. Th e com m u nity b e -
ne fits from th e com pany's activitie s and
vice ve rsa. Th e com pany proactive l
y se -
l
e cts
and
m anage s
an
e cosyste m
anch ore d on F/LO SS to attain b u sine ss
goal
s.
Re al
profits and com pe titive diffe re nti-
ation can b e ach ie ve d at stage s 4 and 5 of
m atu rity w h e n a com pany sh ifts its focu s
from e fficie ncy to val
u e appropriation
and a m ore strate gic inte raction w ith th e
m ark e t and val
u e ch ain.
Stage 4- Col
l
ab orate : Th e com pany h as
now b e com e an ope n sou rce strate gist.
Exe cu tive s ide ntify a position w ith in th e
e cosyste m , de fine a b u sine ss m ode l
th at
re l
ie s on F/LO SS, and th e n re l
e ase code ,
fu nd e fforts, and e xe rt infl
u e nce to attain
th e com pany's b u sine ss goal
s. Th e com -
m u nity b e ne fits from cu stom e r drive n re -
sou rce s to produ ce ne w ve rsions of
softw are . Th e com pany ob tains a com pe t-
itive advantage by ch anging th e e nviron-
m e nt. Com pe titive val
u e and proprie tary
val
u e are cou pl
e d w ith b u sine ss strate gy.
Stage 5- R e de fine : Th is is th e m ost ag-
gre ssive stage w h e re e xe cu tive s inve st in
program s and tool
s to de sign produ cts
re l
ying on F/LO SS proje cts. Th e com -
m u nity b e ne fits as it can e xpl
oit l
ink age s
across F/LO SS proje cts. Th e com pany
gains a significant com pe titive advantage
by h arne ssing ch ange s in m u l
tipl
e e cosys-
te m s.
At th is stage , th e com pany ch ange s its po-
sition in th e val
u e ch ain; for e xam pl
e , a
com pany can sh ift to a se rvice b u sine ss
m ode l
from a produ ct b u sine ss m ode l
.
Le ssons Le arne d
Th e acade m ic anal
ysis provide d data for
a nu m b e r of case s th at re inforce d th e po-
te ntial
com pe titive l
e ve rage th at can b e
ach ie ve d via ope n sou rce . Th e b e h aviou r
of a com pany and de cision au th ority
arou nd ope n sou rce de te rm ine s th e
val
u e th at can b e appropriate d.
Som e of th e l
e ssons l
e arne d dispe l
l
e d
som e of th e popu l
arl
y h e l
d m yth s arou nd
ope n sou rce , incl
u ding th ose th at q u e s-
tione d th e q u al
ity of th e softw are , th e m o-
tivation of th e contrib u tors, th e viab il
ity
of com m e rcial
iz ation, and th e l
e gal
risk
of u sing ope n sou rce . Th e y al
so con-
firm e d th e val
u e of an e cosyste m to m ax-
im iz e th e appropriation of val
u e . Som e of
th e k e y l
e ssons w e re th at:
-- th e ab il
ity to appropriate co- cre ate d
val
u e is m ore im portant th an l
ow e ring
costs
-- F/LO SS is ab ou t a com pe titive e nviron-
m e nt, not a fre e e nvironm e nt
-- th e cu stom e r's e xpe rie nce w ith F/LO SS
is a k e y drive r
-- a com pany ne e ds to scal
e u p th e e co-
syste m in orde r to co- cre ate val
u e
Th e re se arch al
so ide ntifie d se ve ral
in-
sigh ts into th e ch al
l
e nge s of incorporat-
ing ope n sou rce into a com pany's
b u sine ss m ode l
:
-- th e ne e d for inte rnal
stru ctu ral
ch ange s
Com petitive Open S ource
5
