Is Open Source a Viable Option for Government?
In recent years there have been thousands of articles, blog
posts, and ancillary commentary evaluating the use of Open Source technology by
government. In recent months, the commentary has increased based on the State
of California’s recent decision to approve open source as a viable offering for
the State. www.cio.ca.gov/.../IT_Policy_Letter_10-01_Open_Source_Software.pdf. The
use of Open Source software is an important decision for government and
business technology decision makers alike and should be evaluated on a program basis.
Further, the decision to use open source does not and should not be an all or
nothing proposition.
There have been many cases where Open Source has added a
tremendous amount of value and truly lowered the cost of implementing of
mission critical applications for government agencies, but the decision goes
far beyond near term cost. Personally, I believe that Open Source is a viable
option for government but the choice needs to be assessed against a variety of
factors.
First and foremost, the question needs to be asked - will
Open Source meet business objectives?
In many cases there are COTS packages or other solutions that exist in
the marketplace that will better meet the business objectives. Additionally, in
most cases, this is not an all or nothing decision - there may and should be
combination of Open Source with traditionally licensed software. As an example
using an Open Source web server or portal framework with commercial content
management software and or database platform.
In today’s environment, Open
Source provides real value that should not be overlooked. In fact, Government agencies
are increasingly asked to keep pace with the customer service experience
provided in the private sector. Think of the functionality of a web-banking
platform and equate to the functions provided by government. Stakeholders are
not just interested in these capabilities, they are demanding the same rich,
web-based customer self-service for all dealings with government. From applying
for unemployment benefits or disputing a workers’ compensation case to filing
business renewals with government, these are all important use cases where Open
Source can provide an attractive alternative.
With government it is often
difficult to predict the adoption rate of a web-based system – this combined
with traditional software licensing structures mean that it is often difficult
to budget web-based initiatives for the government. Open Source helps
alleviate this budgeting uncertainty and is a great solution for managing costs
associated with creating a rich and most importantly secure government applications.
As a proponent of using Open Source software in the
government sector, I intend to blog over the next several week about variety of
topics that I am hopeful will support organizations in their analysis.
Future Topics:
- Evaluation and Decision Criteria
- Combining Open Source with Best of Breed to
solve specific challenges
- Balancing Cost, time to market, system features
and long-term maintenance
- Combating Open Source Fact over Fiction
Keep in mind; government has been using Open Source for
years and possibly without even knowing it.
