Selecting open source software is often bewildering for corporate IT departments accustomed to commercial closed source software. Of all the choices, which ones are likely to meet business and technology requirements? The Enterprise Open Source Directory (www.eosdirectory.com) helps companies find the gems they need.
Open source software continues to gain momentum worldwide. Low costs, high quality, and unprecedented flexibility make more and more IT decision makers favor open source over traditional packaged software. Access to bug tracking systems, development team discussions, test approaches - all the background details previously off-limits - help create software that's not only cheaper, but better, and aligned with organizational needs. Open source software is now part of the IT mainstream, supporting many of the world's largest companies and government institutions. The role of open source also continues to expand, from deep within the infrastructure to the key applications that drive a business.
But along with the benefits come challenges and potential risks for IT departments accustomed to dealing with traditional software companies and packaged software. The difficult-to-control dynamics of open source projects gives decision makers many new questions to grapple with: How stable is the software? What are the licensing terms? Who will support it? How active is the community behind it? What are the prospects for future development?
As the development community knows, evaluating and selecting open source software is very different from traditional approaches that have been in place for decades. Proprietary software vendors have sales and marketing teams to inform their customer base and provide detailed responses to Requests for Information (RFIs), Requests for Proposal (RFPs), or Requests for Quotation (RFQs). To simplify the search there are usually a few obvious market leaders, or customers can choose from a short list identified by independent analysts.
Where proprietary software often has two or three dominant players, there are likely to be hundreds - even thousands - of small open source projects underway to address a particular need. Projects are usually run by individuals or small unknown companies without the capacity or local presence to engage in traditional one-on-one sales and marketing relationships. This is one reason why costs are so low but it also puts an additional burden on the customer, who is responsible for exploring a sea of choices to identify a likely candidate.
The Current Environment: It's a Developer's World
The current open source landscape is difficult for most corporate IT departments to navigate. There are currently more than 150,000 open source projects - closer to 200,000 is probably more realistic. They address a wide range of needs and originate from various sources. Many are rudimentary; some are suitable components for development efforts, and a few can be put into enterprise production environments without hesitation.
For a fast-paced enterprise, finding the right software in such a large and diverse marketplace is problematic. Open source software can be readily downloaded and analyzed - anybody with the time and knowledge can do a detailed code review, review community feedback, investigate bug databases, and study the project structure and approach. But few companies have the resources or interest to do in-depth evaluations or scan the large technology landscape.
While there are abundant online communities and repositories, such as Sourceforge or FreshMeat, dedicated to open source, their main role is to support developers or provide a place to publicize their projects. Hundreds of different projects are often posted for any given category. Ratings are based on popularity such as number of downloads or amount of activity - criteria that may be of interest to developers, but no indication that a product is enterprise-ready.
The Enterprise Open Source Directory: Support for Corporate IT
With so many open source projects available, how can a CIO make the right choice? IT decision makers can now refer to the Optaros Enterprise Open Source Directory (www.eosdirectory.com) listing the most relevant, useful, and enterprise-ready open source offerings in an easy-to-read format. The free online directory includes platforms, components, frameworks, and solutions, which have been evaluated and pre-qualified by Optaros as a neutral expert third party. It also provides a place where corporate IT staff can get expert advice, learn what others are doing, and interact with the open source community.
The Enterprise Open Source Directory includes only open source projects that Optaros believes are worth serious consideration for enterprise deployment - in short, quality over quantity. For example, the directory includes eight-10 content management systems that have been evaluated and rated as enterprise-ready. From this pre-qualified short list, a company can identify three or four candidates for further investigation, rather than sifting through hundreds of possible choices.
Products are rated using criteria relevant to corporate IT departments such as functional richness, maturity, and competitive trends. Optaros ratings are based on the company's worldwide consulting and integration experience, substantial research, and evaluations, as well as interaction with open source communities and companies. However, for another perspective, the directory also includes independent ratings provided by users of the software.
The online directory follows the overwhelming global interest in Optaros' Open Source Catalog, released in January and downloaded more than 10,000 times. This widespread adoption spurred requests for an online edition, which uses the community-building and knowledge-sharing features of Web 2.0 to meet the needs of both business enterprises and developers. IT departments can search the ratings and learn more through blogs, case studies, and forums. Developers can rate and comment on projects, submit case studies and track their popularity.
The directory not only reduces time and cost for enterprises researching open source options, it also provides an incentive for developers to deliver superior products. Being listed in the directory is like a Moody's rating for open source software, providing an essential reference for enterprise customers as well as valuable visibility for developers. Optaros gets e-mails every day from developers who want to be listed.
How the Directory Is Organized
The Enterprise Open Source Directory currently includes over 280 different platforms, products, frameworks, components, and solutions. Offerings are grouped into four main categories and numerous subcategories, many of which are shown in Figure 1.
Approximately 20% of the products are in the "Operations" category, 48% in "Application Development," 20% are "Infrastructure Solutions," and another 17% are "Applications." This distribution (but not the volume) is similar to what's found in SourceForge.
Evaluation Criteria
Software listed in the directory is evaluated against the criteria defined below. The individual ratings should be seen as an indication, not an absolute decision criteria. For example, an open source product with less functionality might be a better choice than a more complex one that does more than what's needed. In other situations, a simpler tool may be easier to integrate than a comprehensive one using another technology.
Functionality
A product's functionality is compared with what is usually needed. In most situations, this is driven by what commercial products have to offer.
Excellent - The functionality required by a typical mid-size or large enterprise is covered.
Good - Most common functional requirements can be met, minor gaps exist.
Fair - Functionality might have some gaps against the average requirement baseline but is still usable in many contexts.
Low - Larger gaps, but probably a good basis for further development.
Poor - Functionality can't satisfy enterprise customers, substantial deficits.
Community
For the long-term success of an open
source project, it's important that there's an active and
well-supported community behind the project. In commercial open source
products, this community is often the (only) software development unit
of the company behind the product. The input and contributions of
external people is less important and influential. This can be seen as
a risk, especially when a company is small or has limited funds
available.
Excellent - Vibrant, very active, and large community, substantial number of active members.
Good
- Large visible community and high activity level in most contribution
areas (strategy/requirements, development, testing, bug reporting,
etc.).
Okay - Some activity both in development and bug reporting and fixing.
Low - Small community or limited level of activity.
Poor -Community inactive or nonexistent.
Maturity
To put a software product in production,
it has to run in a stable, error-free manner. Maturity therefore
measures the quality and robustness of a software product.
Very mature - Strong, high-quality solution, stable, and meets advanced performance expectations.
Good - Some minor stability gaps or performance issues might exist, but probably can be overcome by most users.
Okay - Doesn't fully match all enterprise expectations especially for high-volume loads and massive use.
Low - Doesn't matching typical enterprise expectations, could be good enough in some instances.
Poor - Only usable for testing and demonstration purposes.
Trend
Open source projects and products develop
quickly and dynamically. It's important to understand whether a product
is becoming feature-rich and robust, whether there's no improvement, or
whether the quality and richness is declining compared to the
competition. The "Trend" category indicates the expected progress of
the software.
↑ Solution/component is progressing along most of the criteria and growing in importance overall.
→
Solution/component is stable or progressing normally.
↓
Solution/component is decreasing along given criteria and against competitive approaches.
Optaros Rating
The Optaros Rating indicates how
capable an open source product is to cope with the needs and
requirements of mid-size and large enterprises and organizations. The
rating is based on the indicators above, additional Optaros experiences
as well as further relevant characteristics for the enterprise market
(e.g., the availability of professional support, translation into
relevant languages, and documentation for administrators and users).
Note: The directory doesn't list products that don't at least meet a * rating.
**** Product/project matches or is superior to the best commercially
available and widely used products. It has proven to be a standard in a
specific category that is unsurpassed.
*** Product/project is mature, fulfills the important requirements, is well supported, and conforms to typical
needs in enterprise production environments.
** The right tool for the many situations, more investigation is
needed, not top-league yet. Weaknesses may be driven by technology or
lack of functionality or support. A proof-of-concept is recommended.
* Not recommended (yet) for use in a broad enterprise-wide context,
other than early proofs-of-concept or controlled deployment.
Not recommended for enterprise use, probably not worth further investigation.
While many open source products and projects don't measure up to EOS directory standards that doesn't mean they can't be used in certain situations. And of course there are many good, enterprise-ready products and platforms in the open source ecosystem other than the ones listed in the directory. This is a subjective selection aimed at helping IT organizations navigate the space and make a decision. Enterprise decision makers and users are also welcome to add their own view in the "User Rating" on the detail page of each project.
Keeping a History: Open Source Trends
Besides
software listings, the Enterprise Open Source Directory captures
statistics that provide a glimpse of the evolving open source software
landscape. For example, between January and July 2007:
- 2% of the projects changed their name
- 17% changed their license model
- 82% changed their release number, a clear sign of progress
- 83% have a changed Optaros rating:
- 66% have a higher rating
- 17% have a lower rating
- 17% haven't changed their rating
Better Choices, More Informed Buyers: An Enterprise Resource for Open Source
The Enterprise Open Source Directory is the first environment dedicated
to helping enterprise decision makers identify open source software
that meets their requirements best. The directory isn't intended to
replace detailed evaluation or proof-of-concepts, but it does provide
substantial assistance in making an initial selection.
At the end of the day, evaluation and selection are always somewhat subjective, even when the analysis is as objective as possible. Optaros welcomes feedback about its assessments and how to improve the directory for corporate users and developers alike. Based on the response to the earlier catalog, companies considering open source alternatives to existing software or planning a new project are likely to find the online directory a valuable resource.