The most influential factor for deploying open source technology is better protection against security breaches, according to an IDC survey of open source adoption plans and challenges in Australia, Korea, India, and China.
The survey results suggested that organizations in India and China deployed open source technology more than their counterparts in Australia and Korea. Furthermore, as expected, a larger number of small and midsized businesses (SMB) in all four countries were deploying open source technology compared to large businesses.
“The results indicate that organizations perceived open source technology as providing better security compared to proprietary products,” said Prianka Srinivasan, market analyst at IDC. “Though cost-efficiency remains a key decision factor, the results also suggest that organizations look to leverage open source technology primarily to fulfill their requirements for specific functionalities instead of widespread deployment.”
When segmenting the data by user’s company size, it emerged that SMBs in all four countries deployed open source technology primarily to ensure protection from security threats, which is similar to large organizations in Australia, India, and China. Large organizations from Korea, however, cited better management tools and utilities as the leading factor.
“IDC believes that open source technology and software will appear in the higher end of the application stack in coming years. Commercial vendors of open source software will need to provide extensive support and training services, as well as address the issues of interoperability, in order to take advantage of the addressable market for open source technology in the region,” Srinivasan added.
