Incorporating open source best practices into your company
Strategy
Open source offers numerous benefits. However, effectively leveraging these advantages requires a clear understanding of how it can integrate into an organisation's value chain.
Are you interested in using open source to capture or expand market share, build a community of dedicated users, reduce costs associated with acquiring licenses, or attract talented individuals? Maybe you want to use open source to develop a product or service, or you're tired of adapting your business to fit vendor software instead of the other way around.
You might also be considering open source practices to break down internal barriers, harness skills and enthusiasm across teams, bring your teams closer to your customers, or collaborate with other companies.
How you position, use, and oversee open source within your organisation's digital strategy must align with your business, marketing, and technical objectives. Open source is a tool, not an end in itself.
OSPO
All employees in your organisation need to understand the potential impact of open source on their work. This includes decisions about market strategies, research and development plans, intellectual property and standards, technical development, community engagement, supply chain security, and RFQ/RFP purchasing processes.
Governance, a crucial concept in managing open source, involves establishing clear and effective working practices throughout the organisation. This is often achieved through an Open Source Program Office (OSPO).
Governance can involve various activities, such as raising internal awareness, providing training, and making policy recommendations for controlling processes and managing software acquisitions.
Additionally, governance is essential for managing open source license compliance and controlling risks.
Compliance
Open source software operates within the framework of copyright law. Therefore, adhering to open source licenses is a crucial aspect of using, creating, and contributing to open source software legally and appropriately. License compliance involves multiple parties, including the project's technical representatives (such as the lead developer or system architect), copyright legal experts, and patent portfolio managers. In addition, other elements that support effective and timely license compliance include open source experts who act as intermediaries between projects and a compliance office, code scan systems, playbooks, company policies, code publication sites, and CLA tracking. It's important to note that license compliance should be part of a broader risk mitigation strategy for the software your company acquires, uses and publishes.
(Attention: Please note that while Open Up can help you set up a compliance function for your company or project, you still need to involve legal and IPR experts in that function. Open Up does not provide legal or IPR advice or expertise.)
Community
The heart of open source revolves around the community that supports it. How a company interacts with and supports its open source community, whether internal or external, can vary based on factors such as company values, project goals, market strategy, risk management, intellectual property policies, and work culture. There is no one-size-fits-all approach, even within the same company. Building a vibrant, diverse community passionate about your product's success offers significant benefits. A company's position on the open source maturity curve often reflects how it engages with its community.
