Gartner: more than half of firms use open source

Analyst's figures reveal use of proprietary software is declining

More than half of end users have incorporated open-source software (OSS) into their IT strategy, according to figures from Gartner.

The analyst quizzed 547 IT chiefs and found that 22 per cent deploy OSS widely in all departments of their company. Some 46 per cent use it in departments or projects where OSS is particularly apposite, while 21 per cent are currently weighing up the pros and cons of open source.

Gartner claims that about a third of respondents use OSS to gain more flexibility and innovation and to benefit from shorter development times and quicker procurement processes.

Laurie Wurster, research director at the analyst, said many organisations are now viewing open source in a different light.

"Gaining a competitive advantage has emerged as a significant reason for adopting an OSS solution, suggesting that users are beginning to look at OSS differently – they can customise the code to make it unique to their company, they have created a competitive advantage."

Within the next 18 months Gartner expects open source to account for more than 30 per cent of businesses' software assets. Five years ago, the figure was less than 10 per cent. Internally developed software has also been on the up in recent years, with use of proprietary software slowing down, said the research house.

But its figures show that still only a third of companies have a formalised policy on OSS usage.

Wurster added: "As external service providers emerge to support commercial offerings, OSS is and will continue to be used in both non-mission-critical and mission-critical environments. With greater in-depth understanding and access to the necessary skill sets, end user organisations will continue to find new deployment of OSS.

"Although a search for reducing costs by adopting OSS continues to be a major driver, with this survey we see more respondents looking at OSS as having much greater value than simply getting something for free."