Community Software:The Why and How of Open Source Participation

Matt AsayGeneral Manager, Americas

matt.asay@alfresco.com

Agenda

● Leaving the cave● Why it matters● The power of open source● How it can help you

● Engaging with open source communities● Principles of community involvement● Making OpenBravo successful

● The future is open

The Open Source Opportunity

Beyond the cave

You have shown me a strange image, and they are strange prisoners.

Like ourselves, I replied; and they see only their own shadows, or the shadows of one another, which the fire throws on the opposite wall of the cave?

True, he said; how could they see anything but the shadows if they were never allowed to move their heads?...

And if they were able to converse with one another, would they not suppose that they were naming what was actually before them?...

To them, I said, the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the images.

Different ways to develop software

No man is an island, entire of itselfevery man is a piece of the continent, a part of the mainif a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own wereany man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankindand therefore never send to know for whom the bell tollsit tolls for thee.

I've built walls,A fortress deep and mightyThat none may penetrate...I am a rock, I am an island...I have my booksand my poetry to protect meI am shielded in my armourHiding in my room, safe within my womb,I touch no one and no one touches me.

I am a rock, I am an island

6

The world is discovering an alternative

● IP protection first, customers second (?)

● Achieve ubiquity through● Expensive sales and marketing● Focus on sales, not product● High conversion rate of limited prospects

● Customers first, product follows customer needs

● Achieve ubiquity through● Exceptional software● Focus on product to drive self-selected sales● Low (but growing) conversion rate of hundreds

of thousands of leads● Superior service

20th Century

21st Century

Connected world, connected software

The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking that created them.

10/27/07

Unstoppable

● “Open source software solutions will directly compete with closed-source products in all …markets.”

● By 2008, 95% of Global 2000 organizations will have formal open source acquisition and management strategies

● Approximately 10% of key enterprise on-premise software in 2007, increasing to between 15% and 20% by 2010

● Today, 81% have deployed or are considering deploying open source applications

● 60% believe that open source drives “significant business value”

● 72% plan to expand its use

Sources: Gartner (2005), CIO Insight (2006), IDC (2006), Saugatuck (2007)

10/27/07

The secrets of open source's success

● Why? ● 65% say open source has

sparked innovation inside their companies

● 67% … for lowered costs● 81% … for better quality software

● Other reasons, according to a Saugatuck survey (2007):

● Ability to customize and use the however required (Flexibility)

● Reduced vendor dependence

● My experience?● Price● Involvement (Community)● Value

Sources: Gartner (2005), CIO Insight (2006), IDC (2006), Saugatuck (2007)

“Open source produces better software.”

Open source delivers value

● Open source respects IT's time● Support direct from the engineers

who write the code● Domain experts on staff

● Open source respects IT's money

● Pay for value, not licenses● Dramatically lower cost

● Open source respects IT's intelligence

● Aligns vendor interests with customer interests

● Deliver customer value or the customer doesn't pay – allocates risk appropriately

Term Proprietary Software Open Source

License Fees Large Initial Fee

Upgrades Additional Fee

Maintenance Additional Fee

Support Additional Fee

License Term Perpetual or Time-Based Perpetual*

Included in annual subscription fee

Included in annual subscription fee

Included in annual subscription fee

Included in annual subscription fee

10/27/07

Every proprietary vendor is vulnerable

Consider Oracle's customers:

● >33% are running production open source DBs

● 13% are running >50% of applications on open source

● >50% will increase their use of open source in the next year

● “Express” editions have not slowed open source penetration

● Use cases?● 63% for single function systems;● 37% for departmental applications;● 34% for customer facing web sites;● 12% each for ERP and BI;● 7% for transactional

But not in the ERP market!

● Oh, really?● SAP introduces Business ByDesign● Oracle “owns” NetSuite

● Weak attempts to be OpenBravo● Likely to fail – difficult for big vendors

with heavy cost structure to go “down-market”

● No community help ● Open source allows ERP to be

developed by and for disparate users

● SMEs don't look to proprietary incumbents for agile, open source and/or SaaS

Sources: Independent Oracle Users Group survey (2007)

The open source ecosystem: Alfresco example

Evaluation

Breakdown of Linux Variants

14%

16%

13%

21%

14%

22%

Linux - DebianLinux - Fedora CoreLinux - OtherLinux - RHELLinux - SUSELinux - Ubuntu

Deployment

The open source ecosystem:Application servers

Evaluation Deployment

The open source ecosystem:Databases

Evaluation Deployment

Building and Engaging Communities

How open source can help you

Open source focuses innovation

Innovation

Open source opens doors to customer innovation

Let OpenBravo partners and customers and community members customize OpenBravo to suit their individual needs

10/27/07

Community is very hard

● Project sponsor will do 85-100% of core development

● 1000/10/1 (Users/ Bug Reporters/ Patch Submitters)

● <15 core developers will always do 85% of dev

● Most projects (55%) get no outside involvement at all, and 72% have fewer than 2

● The key to community?● Interesting project● Accessible code (Modularity +

documentation)● Transparent roadmap and

interaction

Sources: Marten Mickos (MySQLUC 2005); O’Mahony & West, 2005; Mockus et al., 2005)

Portrait of the Successful Company as a Young Project

Make it interesting

Licensing is critical

● The license sets the tone for a project

● Helps to overcome barriers to trust ● Project must be bigger than the

company behind it● Right to fork essential

● GPL best for commercial projects

Embrace open source

● “Open source” is not a marketing gimmick

● Open source success depends on being different, on disruption

“Control” comes from sharing

Sharing can be profitable

Can you do succeed here?

Among the most significant open source projects.

Not a single one of which was born in Silicon Valley

One final warning

● A true community gives and takes

● Systems integration partners should not be parasites● Feed the project and its sponsor or it will die● Customers benefit from a strong project sponsor, and not merely zero-cost

software acquisition● Contribute code and cash to ensure a rich, symbiotic relationship

● Project sponsors must be careful not to consume all revenue opportunities

● Avoid professional services (Alfresco limits its PS involvement to two weeks)

Conclusory Remarks

The opportunity is ripe

● ~10 open source vendors will do over $10M in sales in FY 2007

● “Free” as in price no longer the primary driver of open source

● Open source = value

● Geographical differences● US: Corporates | EMEA:

Governments | APAC: No one ● More free use in EMEA; more paid

use in the US● Partner-driven in EMEA; more direct

in the US

The open source manifesto(Burn the boats)