1. Factors influencing open source software adoption
Meeting on the Management of Statistical Information Systems (MSIS 2014)
Dublin, Ireland and Manila, Philippines April 2014
Brian Buffett, Head of Statistical Services & Technology

2. Overview Context Innovation as a process Open Source Software adoption
The Statistical Industry
Summary

3. Context Perspective of software adopters – not producers
Explore statistical agency adoption of OSS
Messages for ‘industry built’ software sharing initiatives?

4. Industry agnostic view

5. Stages of Innovation Adoption
Stages of <Open Source Software> adoption
Unaware of Open Source Software (OSS)
Aware of OSS but not in the specific area (business or technical)
Seeking information about OSS in the area
Aware of OSS in the area, considering (possible exit point)
Piloting OSS (possible exit point)
Using OSS in production
Moving through the stages relies on the accumulation of knowledge
From external sources
From internal experiences & projects
Individuals are fundamental to the process

6. Evolution
The majority of organisations who consider OSS end up adopting it
Once organisations start using OSS, usage expands from simple applications to mission-critical applications
Once organisations have adopted OSS for a wide range of applications, it is no longer viewed the same – it begins to be treated the same as commercial software
Once that point is reached, OSS is evaluated against the same criteria as commercial (COTS) s/w and must meet the same requirements and standards

7. Towards successful OSS adoption Managing Change
Build support for the initiative
Identify & address internal barriers
Identify risks
Impart skills and knowledge on teams which will be affected
Introduce governance
Adapt purchasing policies
NOTE: OSS has a specific culture and there are champions, detractors and neutral persons regardless of a specific business case

8. Procurement example
Government (or Agency) procurement, asset management & requirements specification will need to evolve to support OSS and industry sharing models
Example from UK Government ICT Procurement Guide
Evaluation is to be based on best value and consider commercial and OSS solutions equally. In case of ties, OSS wins
Example of requirements to be considered:
Security
Scalability
Minimum and essential functionality
Transferability
Manageability
Maintenance & support requirements
Total cost of ownership, including exit and transition costs

9. Statistical Industry View Summary of Results

10. Where are organisations focussing their efforts – top ranked goals
Improve integration between applications
Increase process-oriented statistical production (reduce silos)
Reduce IT costs
Increase industrialisation of statistics
Increase collaboration with other statistical agencies
Adopt or increase use of DDI and/or SDMX standards
Use IT to increase innovation

11. Policy
Eleven (out of 43) organisations have organizational policies regarding OSS adoption and use.
Policy orientation:
Ten policies are oriented in favour of OSS adoption
One policy is neutral

12. Statistical Organisations Openness to OSS

13. Statistical Organisations and the Innovation Adoption Stages

14. The official statistics industry
Has shared goals and this was confirmed by the study
Is widely researching, evaluating, and using OSS
consistent with high rate of adoption in entire public sector
Is using OSS in all areas of statistical operations
Is planning to increase OSS usage in the next 48 months
Views best practices as important but has not implemented them / is not implementing them
Identified OSS having lower operating costs than COTS
Identified the same major concerns as other industries
Availability of service and support
Security

15. Which characteristics of OSS are most important?
Highest level of agreement across staff roles
Ability to use OSS without restrictions
Support in OSS of open standards
Ability to reduce dependencies on vendors
Highest variance between staff roles
Ability to view and modify source code
Ability to create and distribute derivative works
Ability to participate in & contribute to OSS development
Ability to participate in & contribute to OSS communities

16. Good Practices when Deploying OSS
Managing maintenance and support costs
Having rules governing OSS development, maintenance, security, and support
Having guidelines & approval processes for choosing OSS products prior to adoption
Rating & ranking OSS risks and mitigating those risks
Monitoring the OSS community to ensure adequate development & support of components used by the agency
Ensuring relevant internal skills in OSS development or operations
Establishing a support model for the OSS product/solution
Establishing internal development, testing, and change management processes for OSS

17. Greatest Concerns regarding OSS
Availability of service and support
Security of the software
Lack of relevant internal skills and knowledge of OSS (development and operations)
Product Immaturity
Inability of OSS to help meet business goals

18. Services from external companies re. OSS
In highest demand
Consulting
Integrating multiple OSS components
Training
Lifecycle support
Integrating OSS with other software
Lowest demand
Legal support
OSS operations
Certification of OSS
OSS selection

19. Security Consistently ranked as a top concern across all industries
Security evaluations by specialist firms found security to be comparable between OSS and COTS s/w
OSS is not more or less secure than COTS
Heartbleed openssl backdoor notwithstanding!

20. Summary
Innovation adoption is a process – barriers, risks, elements to manage all change as organisation changes
People are critical to the process
Major concerns are maintenance/support and security & security of OSS is equivalent to COTS
Statistics agencies need to carefully evaluate the true lifecycle costs of OSS vs other models
OSS adoption could provide good lessons for industry sharing initiatives
Efforts to increase software sharing could benefit from targeting assistance at the various process stages

21. Thank You! Brian Buffett Head of Statistical Services & Technology