Software products are growing rapidly, at a larger scale, and identifying the right technology to develop a strong and proper code base is a major challenge for product and platform organizations. Several considerations, including usability, scalability, availability, migration from legacy technologies, and various other factors influence the decision of selecting the right platform for delivering products. Businesses are now widely recognizing the role of Open Source Software (OSS) in product development because open source comes with features that make enterprises more responsive in addressing user desires effectively. Open source is also more flexible in adapting and catering to the changing business demands. Welcoming open source fundamentally means changing the way enterprises think about their business as well as their consumers. Besides flexibility, scalability, adaptability and other features, open source also points a radical move away from the long existent “company-customer paradigm”. It encourages businesses to go away from the notion of “company creating a product and customers using them”. Open source ushers in a more advanced method of design thinking where product development takes birth as part of a community collaboration. So why do many Fortune 500 organizations and government IT departments prefer open source? Is pricing the only deciding factor? What are compelling reasons behind enterprises going for open source? Take a look at our infographic to know more

1. Customer faith in Open Source Software (OSS):
use Open Source
technology at
some level
leverage Open
Source to gain
competitive edge
believe in efficien-
cy, interoperability
& innovation of
OSS
prefer OSS be-
cause it offers
freedom from
vendor lock-in
What makes Open Source more popular?
Top 7 reasons to use open source for
product development:
increase in the use
of OSS vis-a-vis
2015
enterprises lever-
age OSS for
speedy application
development
enterprises lever-
age OSS for pro-
duction infrastruc-
ture
total global OSS
related jobs will
touch 1.47 million
Security and Quality:
Agility and Elasticity
Review of source code
by a wide community
Increased chance of
flaws being detected
& fixed quickly
Access & awareness
on source code makes
it technically superior
More user-friendly w-
ith ample scope to in-
novate
Agility & ability to
react quickly to busi-
ness changes
Reduces cycle time
for component up-
dates & corrections
Less resource inten-
sive
Easy to customize on
available hardware
Developers get the
‘building blocks’ of the
software for free
Developers can spend
their time on specific
& unique functional-
ities
Businesses can easily
modify software to
reflect changes in
processes
No constraints creat-
ed by a rigid inflexible
software
Freedom from Vendor Lock-in: Access to source code
Overcomes commer-
cial vendor uncertain-
ties
Mitigates risks asso-
ciated with propri-
etary software vendor
Protects against cha-
nges in supplier terms
or conditions#
Customization
Offers a fixed cost
option that may be
enhanced & scaled
over time
Less expensive than
proprietary software
as the basic stack co-
mes free
Annual license fees-
OSS requires no on-
going costs
Lesser upgrade char-
ges, while making ch-
anges
Facilitates easy in-
teroperability with
other businesses
OSS standards such
as Eclipse & COBRA
simplify integration of
products
Strong community
ensures availability of
new drivers & hard-
ware-related features
Interoperability: Adhering to open standards
Support easily avail-
able for localizing de-
fects and making fixes
Scope to avail paid
support options as re-
quired
67% contribute to OSS
projects in terms of
bug fixing & adding
functionalities
Exhaustive support through vibrant communities
Lesser Costs and Resources
$
References:
http://www.computerworld.com/article/2486991/app-development-4-reasons-companies-say-yes-to-open-source.html?page=2
http://expedux.com/wp-content/uploads/pdf/Top_10_Reasonswhy_Open%20Source_is_goodfor_Product_Development.pdf
http://www.pcworld.com/article/209891/10_reasons_open_source_is_good_for_business.html
http://raconteur.net/infographics/growth-of-open-source-gathers-momentum
https://www.blackducksoftware.com/2016-future-of-open-source
https://in.pinterest.com/pin/129830401729021144/
http://www.zdnet.com/article/coverity-finds-open-source-software-quality-better-than-proprietary-code/
suyati.com
Why Should You Use Open Source
For Product Development
76%
65% 2018
By
90%
? ??
? ?