Author ORCID Identifier
0000-0002-9227-2921
Advisor Information
Matt Germonprez
Location
ROOM 232
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Start Date
1-3-2019 12:45 PM
End Date
1-3-2019 2:00 PM
Abstract
In open source software development, individuals voluntarily contribute to the development of software. Recently, corporations like Microsoft, IBM, and others invest in open source by making their proprietary software freely available, by providing funding, and by dedicating their full-time employees to work in open source projects. This raises questions such as: Why do corporations dedicate money and resources to open source? What do they gain from it? How does this add value for their business? In sum, how do they make money engaging in open source? Literature provides various business models that companies adopted for their engagement in open source, for example, by focusing on one either hardware or software and let the complement be developed by open source projects, or by selling value-added services for open source software.
To understand this value proposition of corporate engagement in open source, I will design a survey for firms already engaged in open source to get insights into how their engagement in open source adds value to their business. This study explores how companies do internal planning and budgeting to invest in open source, what factors they consider when they allocate their resource to open source, how they decide to invest in open source, and how they measure the return on their investment in open source? With this understanding, an existing business can realign their strategic business model for engaging in open source.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Business Value Creation Through Open Source Engagement
ROOM 232
In open source software development, individuals voluntarily contribute to the development of software. Recently, corporations like Microsoft, IBM, and others invest in open source by making their proprietary software freely available, by providing funding, and by dedicating their full-time employees to work in open source projects. This raises questions such as: Why do corporations dedicate money and resources to open source? What do they gain from it? How does this add value for their business? In sum, how do they make money engaging in open source? Literature provides various business models that companies adopted for their engagement in open source, for example, by focusing on one either hardware or software and let the complement be developed by open source projects, or by selling value-added services for open source software.
To understand this value proposition of corporate engagement in open source, I will design a survey for firms already engaged in open source to get insights into how their engagement in open source adds value to their business. This study explores how companies do internal planning and budgeting to invest in open source, what factors they consider when they allocate their resource to open source, how they decide to invest in open source, and how they measure the return on their investment in open source? With this understanding, an existing business can realign their strategic business model for engaging in open source.