Open source software Success factor community: Companies need to get fit for open source

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Immature software, open legal questions, security gaps: A publication by the Industry 4.0 / Acatech Research Advisory Board concludes that companies can - and must - counter concerns about using open source software.

Carina Culotta is a research associate at the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics IML.

Open software has become a mass product in the age of the internet. It has never been easier to gain access to open source projects or to provide your own code via platforms like Github. The computer nerd coding for a good cause in his parents' garage is a thing of the past. A multitude of open source programs are now created by large corporations that make them freely available to other companies and private users via platforms. In Germany, however, the image of open source is often different: In the expertise "Open Source as a driver of innovation for Industry 4.0" of the Research Council Industry 4.0 / Acatech - German Academy of Engineering Sciences, the experts questioned for the study cite a number of potential concerns against the use of open-source software. It is worth noting that the respondents themselves, coming from large corporations, small and medium-sized enterprises as well as associations, are very positive about the use and provision of open source software.

The experts emphasize in the study that companies are rather uncertain about the use of open-source software, rather than fundamentally rejecting it. Deficits in knowledge about the concept and the positive effects of open-source software lead to headlines about immature, unchecked or outdated open-source software and security gaps falling on fertile ground. Especially companies without large or own IT departments, therefore, continue to rely on proprietary products with the corresponding customer support. The current Open Source Monitor 2023 of the digital association Bitkom e.V. also confirms that the most common reasons against the use of open-source software from the company's perspective are a lack of know-how in the form of professionals (14 percent) and uncertainties regarding legal issues (14 percent). Also, the lack of commercial support is relatively frequently mentioned as an obstacle to the use of open-source software, at around 8 percent."Open Source as a driver of innovation for Industry 4.0"

Open Source for good reason

However, many positive aspects speak for the use of open-source software. These are not only cost aspects but also the actually high quality of the code checked by the open-source community and the possibility of contributing own impulses to significant projects, to name just a few added values. Companies that therefore want to get closer to the topic of open source are well advised to design their own open-source strategy. Depending on the size and structure of the company, setting up their own Open Source Program Office, short OSPO, is a suitable approach. Even small companies and startups with limited personnel resources can implement open-source strategies by defining fixed responsibilities and topic areas and assigning them to specific employees.

In general, as part of an open-source strategy, not only should the question be answered as to how/why and which open-source software should be used in the company, but also whether and with what objective the company wants to make its own contributions and what these could be. Companies can publish their own projects and manage them accordingly, or participate in existing projects in active communities as so-called contributors.

However, the idea of publishing own contributions under an open-source license is often opposed by the fear that development results or own services, which are made freely available to a community, could be exploited - according to the surveyed experts. Fears exist, among other things, of siphoning off know-how and successfully commercializing one's own services by third parties. While especially small companies and startups see the chance of a broad diffusion of their developments through open-source software, they often fear that companies with higher market power or awareness could commercially exploit the development results or the disclosed intellectual property, leaving the author of the software empty-handed.

In fact, a company should not distribute its core intellectual property open source without good reason. On the other hand, products, processes, and services that are not per se market differentiating or that complement a company's primary value proposition are very suitable for open source developments. Likewise, standards or so-called commodified goods are suitable for joint developments - companies across the industry can benefit from uniform de facto standards.

The great challenge for companies is therefore to analyze and understand what their primary value proposition and their core intellectual property is and how it should be positioned and further developed in the market. Accordingly, the open-source strategy must be designed and continuously adapted and communicated across all company areas. The interplay of business, technological and corporate strategic views is crucial here.

Active communities boost open source

The trustworthiness of an originator in the real world is an important factor in evaluating open-source projects. Thus, the enforcement of an open-source solution in companies can often fail due to the lack of awareness or prestige of the respective provider. Large and well-known partners, who engage in the forming communities and advance the projects through developer resources or monetary contributions, on the other hand, promote acceptance. Initial pilot projects can be realized on a small scale with trusted partner companies or operational customers. Research institutions also offer the opportunity to efficiently advance open-source developments within the framework of well-coordinated user communities.

Criteria for selection

The selection of suitable projects and the associated ecosystems or communities is a crucial task for companies. When evaluating a community, companies should in particular

• focus on the factors of size and activity

• as well as communication and feedback culture within the community.

A correspondingly large developer community with many active and current contributions, as well as positive and professional communication e.g. regarding so-called bugs or inquiries for further developments, often secure the code quality and the longevity of the project. A key factor is also the diversity and plurality of the community, so that no dependencies on individual partners arise, which can in turn act as a deterrent.

Best Practice: the Open Logistics Foundation

An example of a corporate community that wants to jointly program and promote open-source code is the Open Logistics Foundation, founded in 2021 by four logistics service providers, based in Dortmund and Berlin. The foundation is based on a community idea of open and fair cooperation between different companies, which can also be competitors in the free market. In the Innovation Community, open-source solutions for commodities within the logistics industry, i.e. non-market differentiating services, are developed. Topics for working groups and projects always emerge directly from the Innovation Community and therefore have a high market and practical relevance.

Open Source with the right mindset

The joint development of open-source software can also be understood as an open innovation approach and as a cooperation model - both with external partners and within a company. Open-source software changes the way software is developed - agile, open, transparent, simultaneous and equal - and thus also the way companies can work together. If companies want to jointly develop open-source software, e.g. because they want to share developer resources and avoid complex license agreements, this requires openness and transparency in all company areas.

Building competence in all areas and at all levels

However, this openness presupposes a basic understanding of the importance and added value of open source software. For this reason, qualification measures for building up the competencies of the employees involved are expressly desired at all levels of the company:

• Since the provision and use of open source software or the development of a corporate open source strategy is a management issue, it is necessary to have competencies in both modern innovation management and in the IT sector at management level.

• Legal departments need to be familiarized with the topic so that they don't recommend proprietary licenses from the outset and rely on classic cooperation or contract arrangements. Since open-source software is ultimately also a type of license, companies need to gain security in dealing with copyright issues in order to check whether the licenses used within a project are compatible, to what extent derived works may be published under which license, or whether existing patents and copyrights are violated in the course of an open-source publication.

• Developers, who often know their way around open source communities and enjoy working on joint projects - often in their spare time - on the other hand, must also be trained to view open source as a cross-company, strategic element of a business model.

• In addition, business departments should be able to recognize that although the provision of open source software does not necessarily bring direct monetary benefits, it does bring indirect added value such as participation in open innovation processes.

Especially in the course of creating their own use cases, companies - as recommended by the experts in the mentioned open-source expertise - therefore need to establish an open, open-source-friendly mindset that prioritizes collaboration and networking over proprietary, internal development. This includes measures to promote acceptance of open-source software in their own company within the framework of change management. Low-threshold further training offers - also organised internally, for example by the OSPO or the person responsible for open source - as well as attending relevant external events can contribute to this.

Strengthen companies now

In summary, it can be said that enabling companies is a necessary prerequisite for a strong, European B2B open-source community. In particular, small and medium-sized enterprises can be supported with low-threshold offers and easy-to-transfer best practices. Therefore, it is important to create especially free or low-threshold offers in these areas and in particular to provide contact points for legal advice.