The Standish group recently completed an extensive study that examines factors influencing open-source adoption. Based on five years of research and analysis, the report provides intriguing insights into open-source adoption levels and the way that open source is reshaping the software industry. Individuals who participated in the Standish survey identified several key drivers for open source adoption, including lower costs, better security and reliability, and faster development speed.

According to the report, open-source software reduces the initial cost of launching new projects. "When budgets are tight it's all too easy to get sucked into the assumption that whatever the project may be, it will be faced with an immediate 'no.' Open source can turn that 'no' into a 'yes.'," the report says. It also examines long-term budget benefits too and points out that open source adoption can rescue companies from the "hidden cost associated with packaged software upgrades."

Another open-source advantage that is broadly recognized by the survey participants is security. Over 70 percent said that Red Hat Linux is less vulnerable to security issues than Microsoft's operating system. When questioned on quality and reliability, the survey participants didn't see as much of a gap—22 percent said that Red Hat Linux offers higher quality than Windows and 66 percent said that the two products offer comparable quality.

The ability to adapt existing open-source applications to meet specialized needs is one of the most significant adoption drivers addressed by the Standish report. Starting with an existing code base can accelerate development considerably and reduce much of the cost. "Using open source creates an instant baseline for any project. This baseline not only includes working programs, but also requirements, documentation, support procedures, and education material," the report says. "In many cases, especially in infrastructure software, the baseline is a fully developed and working system."

Although the Standish group and its survey participants have a lot of nice things to say about open source software, they also highlight some weaknesses that impede adoption. Many companies lack confidence in their ability to handle a migration to open source. 78 percent of the survey respondents said that their organizations are only poorly or moderately skilled at integrating open source software into their IT infrastructure. As we have previously discussed, this particular issue creates immense demand for preintegrated open-source solutions.

Despite adoption challenges, the Standish report concludes that open source software is a big win for businesses, which are saving billions and passing that savings along to consumers. "Open source dominates web server installations and is an integral part of most e-commerce websites," the report says. "The open-source movement is advancing because of feature-rich, secure, high-quality, reliable software with compelling economic benefits."