Open Source Adoption in the Public Sector
Open Source Software (OSS) is gaining more and more recognition in both private and public sector as a true enterprise alternative. Often thought of in the past as just a rogue technology developed by a bunch of coders with nothing better to do than fight the “monopoly” of Microsoft, it is now being legitimized and brought into the mainstream. This is even true in the public sector, both federal and state & local which is considered by some historically to be the laggard market when it comes to technology.
More and more government agencies are formally acknowledging OSS as a legitimate option, and even addressing it with policy, such as is the case in California. In an IT Policy Letter issued January 7, 2010, Teri Takai, CIO for the State of California, addressed their policy specifically regarding OSS. It defined as one of its key purposes to “Formally establish the use of Open Source Software (OSS) in California state government as an acceptable practice”. No longer can anyone in California use as an excuse the omission of OSS from California’s IT Policies for not considering it as an option for their project.
Also consider what was presented at the recent annual Beyond the Beltway (SLG) conference presented by the Center for Digital Government. The list of speakers included a “who’s who” among State and Local CIO’s from Texas, California, Michigan, Massachusetts, New York City, Virginia, and D.C. In an overview presentation about IT, OSS adoption was specifically called out as a focus area for these leaders. It is gaining traction, and with budget pressures galore in government these days, especially at the S&L level, they have to consider OSS as a viable alternative.
Companies like Red Hat have helped to legitimize OSS by providing the support and testing necessary to give confidence to IT leaders and their staff that to deploy it in their production environments. That was a huge step, but besides the cost savings OSS offers, there is the added bonus that since it is written adhering to industry standards, customers have choice. If they find another product that they like better or is better suited to their needs, they can change out from one product to another. Gone are the days of vendor lock-in.
Frankly speaking, as a taxpayer, I believe all public sector IT software projects funded by taxpayer dollars (which is all of them, right?) should have to not only consider OSS, but provide a business case as to why they are NOT using Open Source Software. Keep your eyes on IT leaders in the public sector and their admissions that OSS is now a reality in their enterprise. We will see it more and more, as we should if they are truly considering the ROI and TCO.
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