Open source software development is often perceived by corporate America as a risky business proposition. The thought of numerous independent, geographically dispersed developers collaborating on a software project, in some vague way, seems to make many members of the Fortune 1000 uncomfortable. However, before dismissing open source out-of-hand, let’s take a few moments to consider the risks that are inherent in a more traditional software development environment.
Open source software development is often perceived by corporate America as a risky business proposition. The thought of numerous independent, geographically dispersed developers collaborating on a software project, in some vague way, seems to make many members of the Fortune 1000 uncomfortable. However, before dismissing open source out-of-hand, let’s take a few moments to consider the risks that are inherent in a more traditional software development environment.
Large corporations often base their technological infrastructure on a single proprietary solution without realizing the tremendous risk that this dependency represents. For the sake of argument, let’s say that you’re running a billion-dollar corporation and you’re interested in extending your IT infrastructure to include a TCP/IP- based wireless/mobile strategy. Your options for implementing such a strategy are limited; many of the vendors that could supply your needs may have a life span of only a few years. Should they cease to exist, who will stand behind the work that the vendors had done? This kind of solution actually represents a single point of potential failure for any business.
On the other hand, implementing the same solution using open source software completely eliminates this “single point of failure.” The software itself is not the product of a single company and should any…
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