Managing the Transition Towards Open Source Software Adoption: : Considerations for Large IT Companies

Abstract: The promise of reduced costs, increased flexibility, and independence from vendors of proprietary products has convinced organizations worldwide to deploy Open Source Software (OSS) in their production environments and commercial offerings. Therefore, the ability to scale software, seamlessly integrate open source software in products and increase benefits from OSS participation are crucial capabilities. However, the nature of OSS is not entirely compatible with the rigid structures and processes of many large companies and thus successfully managing OSS has proven to be highly difficult. Previous research has shown that many companies have built previous success on ‘closed innovation’ logic and must now move in a highly counterintuitive direction towards an ‘open innovation’ mindset. This creates various strategic and operational challenges which they need to identify and overcome to avoid disruption. Based on the aforementioned, the purpose has been to investigate key patterns in how development and increased use of open source software could affect large IT companies. This is to illustrate the transition between closed innovation to open innovation strategy for software, but also to describe the strategic and operational challenges that come appear thereafter. To create a deeper understanding of this process of change, a single (qualitative) case study by a large Swedish IT company has been carried out. The hope is to be able to contribute to research by presenting general conclusions from the case study where empirical data is linked to contemporary research in the field. In order to be able to generalize based on the empirical data, interviews have been conducted with both doctoral students and professors in the field, but also experts in the business world. Our findings have generated insights concerning the OSS adoption process of Company A. The findings of the study include a 6-step model that describes the adoption process as well as strategic and operational considerations for successful transition towards efficient OSS governance.