This post marks me jumping on the Open Source Census (OSC) bandwagon in support of an ambitious but desperately needed effort. Deemed "a global, collaborative project to collect and share quantitative data on the use of open source software in enterprise," at its web address, OpenLogic is sponsoring what amounts to the first, of what should be many more, wide-reaching efforts to quantify the traction of open source software behind enterprise walls. I'll start by commending Kim, Stormy and Co. for stepping forward and taking the initiative on this matter. If executed well, the OSC has the potential to inject data into the conversation about open source penetration. Currently, there are far too few reliable reference points capable of serving as numerical baselines for quantitative analysis, trend forecasting, and the like.
Actually I think the responsibility of collecting the type of data outlined by the OSC should fall on the shoulders of the entire open source community. I applaud OpenLogic's approach to stimulating participation with incentives but it strikes me that they aren't the only ones who will benefit from the data once compiled. Over the long haul, collecting data of this nature will require that open source communities take the initiative to lower the barriers to collecting this information. I've attempted to highlight the value of extracting relevant information about the free user in the past outside the context of the OSC. Ideally, the OSC would entail mostly the collection of usage data from the communities instead of directly from the enterprise. Because in my honest opinion, commercial open source vendors should be collecting this data religiously on their own. If they're not, it leads me to wonder how well the grasp the reality that data about users of open source software is a critical piece of the sales lead picture.
As a result, as the OSC comes into its own I think it will prove beneficial to work with communities to organically integrate better mechanisms and strategies for similar collecting data subsets into communal frameworks. And not simply for the purpose of sharing the load because we're in this together, but also strengthen the overall efficiency of translating downloads into dollars...something that's at the core of successful commercial open source.
About the blogger: Alex Fletcher is lead industry analyst at Entiva Group Incorporated, a research and analyst firm which specializes exclusively on the open source software industry. In addition to hisanalyst coverage activities, he advises organizations of all sizes on establishing governance, strategy and policy surrounding use of open source software as a competitive differentiator. Alex has prior experience as a consultant, software engineer and start-up founder. He can be reached at alex dot fletcher -at- entivagroup dot com.
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