TY - CHAP
T1 - Evaluating Open Source in Government
T2 - Methodological Considerations in Strategizing the Use of Open Source in the Public Sector
AU - Gøtze, John
AU - Wernberg-Tougaard, Christian
AU - Schmitz, Henning
PY - 2007/3/8
Y1 - 2007/3/8
N2 - The use of free and open source software (F/OSS) in the public sector has been accelerating over the last ten years. The benefits seem to be obvious: No licensing costs, unlimited flexibility, vendor independence, a support community, and so forth. But as with everything else in life, a successful implementation of F/OSS in government is not as simple as it might look initially. The implementation of F/OSS should build on a solid evaluation of core business criteria in all their complexity. In this chapter we analyze the evaluation considerations that government bodies should undertake before deciding between F/OSS and traditional software (SW), including the way knowledge networks and communities of practice work, total cost of ownership, and core functional requirements. The chapter presents a methodology conceptualizing this process in a comprehensive framework, focusing on the interaction between the strategic and business process level and the SW/infrastructure level. The chapter aims at presenting a framework enabling IT strategist and management from the “business side” of public sector institutions to evaluate F/OSS vs. traditional SW in tight cooperation with the IT side of the organization.
AB - The use of free and open source software (F/OSS) in the public sector has been accelerating over the last ten years. The benefits seem to be obvious: No licensing costs, unlimited flexibility, vendor independence, a support community, and so forth. But as with everything else in life, a successful implementation of F/OSS in government is not as simple as it might look initially. The implementation of F/OSS should build on a solid evaluation of core business criteria in all their complexity. In this chapter we analyze the evaluation considerations that government bodies should undertake before deciding between F/OSS and traditional software (SW), including the way knowledge networks and communities of practice work, total cost of ownership, and core functional requirements. The chapter presents a methodology conceptualizing this process in a comprehensive framework, focusing on the interaction between the strategic and business process level and the SW/infrastructure level. The chapter aims at presenting a framework enabling IT strategist and management from the “business side” of public sector institutions to evaluate F/OSS vs. traditional SW in tight cooperation with the IT side of the organization.
KW - Open Source Software
KW - Knowledge management
M3 - Book chapter
SN - 978-1599041179
SP - 175
EP - 218
BT - Open Source for Knowledge and Learning Management
A2 - Lytras and Naeve, null
PB - IGI global
ER -