The Significance of Open Source Software in the Digital-First Future Enterprise

As companies shift their focus from the digital transformation of individual processes to the business outcomes enabled by a digitally transformed organisation, software engineering will become a core enterprise capability. To become a software-powered organisation, companies must first identify and address the concerns of its developers in areas such as developer experience, developer velocity and software security.

As per the recent IDC InfoBrief “The Significance of Open Source Software in the Digital-First Future Enterprise”, open source software (OSS) is an important driver of enterprise digital innovation and provides greater agility, performance and security compared to proprietary software. The research, conducted by International Data Corporation (IDC) and commissioned by SUSE surveyed 838 respondents in 11 Asia/Pacific countries across a range of industries such as financial services and insurance, telecommunications, and government. It examines key trends, challenges, and priorities in DevOps and security solutions and the impact of open-source software (OSS) on developer productivity.

According to Linus Lai, Research Vice President, IDC, “In a digital-first world where every organisation is a software-driven business, our research shows that open source software plays a very significant role across the enterprise technology stack, driving innovation, improved customer experiences, and overall digital transformation”.

Key Research Findings

• OSS accounts for almost 70% of all software used in a typical Asia/Pacific enterprise to drive digital innovation.
• OSS improves developer satisfaction by addressing concerns specific to the business and technology environments developers operate in.
• The ability of OSS to address enterprise cybersecurity issues is unmatched due to robust vendor and community testing and expert software support from principal enterprise-grade OSS vendors.
• 61% of respondents rated the performance of OSS as being superior compared to proprietary software.

The research shows that although OSS is relevant across the breadth of the enterprise technology stack, its usage varies. For example, close to 60% of respondents are using OSS for Database and 53% for Operating Systems. When it comes to container-related technologies, only 30% are using OSS. This is primarily because enterprises in the Asia/Pacific region are, on average, earlier in their container adoption journey than in mature markets.

With the rise of microservices and cloud-native applications, new security challenges are arising for enterprise IT departments. This is forcing enterprises to consider innovative new ways to manage security at the container level and pay due consideration to these challenges when choosing a container security solution. Development teams are also under pressure to stay current with newer cloud-native technologies and deliver applications faster.

In today’s highly competitive IT environment, skilled developers are not a cheap resource and top talent is not readily available. Therefore, maximising the developer’s value to the organisation should be high on the agenda for the business to operate at peak efficiency. The research findings show that the use of OSS not only improves developer productivity, but also increases developers’ access to emerging technologies and open source innovations. OSS is also more robust and secure than proprietary software due to rigorous community reviews and shorter development cycles. This enables enterprise development teams to innovate quickly.

As enterprises progress along their digital journey, they will expand the use of OSS in new domains that are crucial to their success. 60% of respondents identified security as the top technology domain for use of OSS in the future. The list also includes newer and emerging technology domains such as AI/big data analytics, Container Management and Metaverse. In addition, the use of containers will be essential as hybrid cloud computing becomes the default enterprise operating model, and enterprises look to expand into new areas such as “the edge”.

To access the full IDC InfoBrief: The Significance of Open Source Software in the Digital-First Future Enterprise, please click here.

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Vishal Ghariwala is the Senior Director & CTO, APJ and Greater China for SUSE, a global leader in true open source solutions. In this capacity, he engages with customer and partner executives across the region, and is responsible for growing SUSE’s mindshare by being the executive technical voice to the market, press, and analysts. He also has a global charter with the SUSE Office of the CTO to assess relevant industry, market and technology trends and identify opportunities aligned with the company’s strategy.

Prior to joining SUSE, Vishal was the Director for Cloud Native Applications at Red Hat where he led a team of senior technologists responsible for driving the growth and adoption of the Red Hat OpenShift, API Management, Integration and Business Automation portfolios across the Asia Pacific region. Before that, he spent a significant amount of time with leading middleware vendors such as IBM, ILOG and Intalio, as well as the public sector.

Vishal has over 20 years of experience in the Software industry and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

Vishal is here on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vishalghariwala/