Benefits of Using Open Source Software for Business and Government - Literature review Example

The Benefits of Using Open Source Software (OSS) for Business and Government This survey paper seeks to discussand analyze the use of open source servers in business and governments and as such highlight the benefits associated with it. In the world today, businesses organizations and governments institutions are in the verge of reducing the cost incurred in the day to day operations. The revolution in the computer and information technology has made it possible for businesses to embrace high tech services that promote efficiency and reliability of their business. Among the technological approaches that businesses have embraced include but not limited to open source servers (OSS). Open source software enables businesses and government institutions to access and offer certain services that otherwise would have cost lots money to install and use. Aim This survey paper aims to conduct an in depth analysis of past research literatures on the use of open source servers by enterprises and government organizations. Further, the paper analyzes how these organizations use the open source servers to efficiently perform their activities. Objective Objectively, this survey paper seeks to relate elementary analysis of open source servers in business and government institutions as studied by other researchers in the past. Finally, the paper puts into context all the exclusion as well as inclusion results of the analyzed literature reviews about open source usage in businesses.  Survey question What are the benefits of open source servers in business and governments? Introduction As a result of the widely and broad technological improvement and innovations, businesses and government organizations all over the world are in the rash to cope with these changes. It should be noted that the basic aim of any business is to maximize profit while minimizing cost. However, a successful business should also consider long term growth plans through installing an effective business operations system. On the other hand, government institutions may also want to put into place effective service delivery systems to its citizens (Bitzer & Schroder, 2006). The later considerations bring about the importance of integrating computing system into these organizations. There are different types of computer systems and some of them are more sophisticated than others. In addition, some of them have strong variance in their functionalities while others are more or less related. While business and government institutions may afford to use premium computing systems, there has been a growing demand and usage of open source servers. This reality could be attributed to the fact that some of these computing systems are free or cost effective as compared to other paid services. This survey paper helps us to understand the dynamics involving the high usage of open source services in businesses and organizations Research review The use of open source software has attracted several researchers and research institutions in the past. Described in this section of the survey paper, are some of the research reports as reported by corresponding researchers. A study conducted by Computer Science Corp (CSC) in the year 2004 revealed that nearly 14% of large business enterprise market is using OpenOffice.org which is an OSS (Bitzer & Schröder, 2006). Even thought Microsoft may not be enjoying the benefits accrued from large enterprises, the study found out that it still commands over 95% of the market share in the entire world. Evans Data Corp conducted a study in February 2008 in which they found out that nearly 64% of database administrators and developers are generally using open source database systems. This explains why there has been a significant increase in the popularity of GNU/OSS products. Additionally, InformationWeek in their survey conducted in the year 2010 revealed that over 90% of companies use Linux platform and that there is big anticipation for further increase. On governance and the use of open source servers, a consultancy firm called Optaros conducted a research and found that over 87% USA government departments at least use open source software in one way or the other. These departments have decided to use open source software as opposed to the paid versions of the same software most probably due to the cost effectiveness associated with the OSS. Understanding open source servers and software in computing Open source is defined as programs whose source codes are made available modification and use by the general public (Carbone & Stoddard, 2001). The development of open source is normally done by collaborative public programmers in an intuitive manner. On the other hand an open source server can be defined as a set of computers and their corresponding database applications. The development of open source servers has made it possible for business and government institutions to perform better management of transactions, safely store sensitive data and communicate to the world on the go (Langer, 2012). A research done by Computer Science Corp (CSC) on the influence of computer usage on business performance showed that over 70% of businesses that embraced computing systems in their management experienced a noticeable improvement and increase in the overall profits. Additionally, it was found that nearly 75% of the businesses that offer their services using computing systems do so through the use of open source servers. A strategic approach to open source servers and their usage Basically, a strategic approach to the usage of open source servers is very important to any survey paper that seeks to find its impact on the business organizations and government institutions. Recent research works have shown that quite a number of businesses as well as government institutions have chosen Digital Technology as their preferred type of technology. Normally, a well managed business organization undergoes expansion with time. As it grows, the need to keep on the go with technological advances also becomes very important in order for then business to maintain its place in the market. The use of most advanced and recent technology does not only improve the infrastructure available but also end up offering the best customer services (Langer, 2012). Open source software and government Open source software is definitely employed by different government institutions around the world, as well as prospective businesses. These computer applications are used and operated by employees who may have little information about how these systems actually function. Even though governments have been trying not to be left out of the evolving technologies, there is one area that has proved endlessly tiresome (Carbone & Stoddard, 2001). Despite the benefits of sophisticated computer systems, the mobilization of necessary and sufficient resource to acquire them has been met with a number setback. As an alternative to any vague assertion connected with government operations or perhaps a trusting concentrate on cost lowering, government institutions have resorted to the use of open source software to offer their services promptly and at affordable cost (Langer, 2012). It should be noted that the use of open source software in government operations may involve communication systems, database management and other content management systems. For instance the USA government, through the White House launched a website (www.recovery.gov) that was purely based on Drupal; an open source content management system. Since then several government agencies have been using open source software to run their businesses and activities. Contrary, a large portion of governments institutions around the world have not thought of adopting the use of open source servers even though the propriety software attracts very expensive licensing fee. Due to the fact that open source software are available for download and use without any payment, their securities and safety are believed to be compromised, however the norm is incorrect (Mahmood & Saeed, 2013). Benefits of using open source software Due to the fact that the source codes for any open source software are free made available, businesses and government institutions can invest little time and resources to develop modules that specifically satisfy their business or service needs. Again, these software are maintained by a number of people and therefore barriers to entry and subsequently exit are minimized (Carbone & Stoddard, 2001). Reliability of OSS is far beyond what other premium software offer. This is probably due to the fact that the development of OSS involves several professionals and therefore the review process is thorough and consistent. DNS, HTML, PHP, JAVA and other programming languages are some of the open source software that have experienced significant growth over the past years. Different professional developers and programmers drawn from all parts of the world take part in the development of open source software and that has made the products free and reliable (Mahmood & Saeed, 2013). On security issue, open source servers and software give everyone with ability to the opportunity to access its vulnerability and as such identify potential threats while also researching on the best possible counter threat mechanism. Conclusion In summary, the information obtained throughout this survey paper boldly indicates that the influence of computing systems through the use of open source software has greatly impacted different business organizations and governmental organizations across the world. While so many business and government institutions are not keen to adopt the use of OSS, it is still clear that a favorable portion of the market segment already embraces technology. The benefits associated with OSS and their usages are far much beyond mention. It goes further to reduce the operational cost while increasing profits for businesses and revolutionizing the entire process of services delivery. Reference Bitzer, J., & Schröder, P. (2006). The economics of open source software development (1st ed.). Amsterdam: Elsevier. Carbone, G., & Stoddard, D. (2001). Open source enterprise solutions (1st ed.). New York: John Wiley. Langer, A. (2012). Guide to software development (1st ed.). London: Springer. Mahmood, Z., & Saeed, S. (2013). Software engineering frameworks for the cloud computing paradigm (1st ed.). London: Springer. Read More