| Open source software is changing the world of Information
Technology. But making it work for your company is far more
complicated than simply installing a copy of Linux. If you
are serious about using open source to cut costs, accelerate
development, and reduce vendor lock-in, you must
institutionalize skills and create new ways of working. You
must understand how open source is different from commercial
software and what responsibilities and risks it brings. Open
Source for the Enterprise is a sober guide to putting open
source to work in the modern IT department.
Open source software is software whose code is freely
available to anyone who wants to change and redistribute it.
New commercial support services, smaller licensing fees,
increased collaboration, and a friendlier platform to sell
products and services are just a few of the reasons open
source is so attractive to IT departments. Some of the open
source projects that are in current, widespread use in
businesses large and small include Linux, FreeBSD, Apache,
MySQL, PostgreSQL, JBOSS, and Perl. These have been used to
such great effect by Google, Amazon, Yahoo!, and major
commercial and financial firms, that a wave of publicity has
resulted in recent years, bordering on hype. Large vendors
such as IBM, Novell, and Hewlett Packard have made open
source a lynchpin of their offerings. Open source has
entered a new area where it is being used as a marketing
device, a collaborative software development methodology,
and a business model.
This book provides something far more valuable than either
the cheerleading or the fear-mongering one hears about open
source. The authors are Dan Woods, former CTO of
TheStreet.com and a consultant and author of several books
about IT, and Gautam Guliani, Director of Software
Architecture at Kaplan Test Prep & Admissions. Each has used
open source software for some 15 years at IT departments
large and small. They have collected the wisdom of a host of
experts from IT departments, open source communities, and
software companies.
Open Source for the Enterprise provides a top to bottom view
not only of the technology, but of the skills required to
manage it and the organizational issues that must be
addressed. Here are the sorts of questions answered in the
book:
Why is there a "productization gap" in most open source
projects?
How can the maturity of open source be evaluated?
How can the ROI of open source be calculated?
What skills are needed to use open source?
What sorts of open source projects are appropriate for IT
departments at the beginner, intermediate, advanced, and
expert levels?
What questions need to be answered by an open source
strategy?
What policies for governance can be instituted to control
the adoption of open source?
What new commercial services can help manage the risks of
open source?
Do differences in open source licenses matter?
How will using open source transform an IT department?
Praise for Open Source for the Enterprise:
"Open Source has become a strategic business issue;
decisions on how and
where to choose to use Open Source now have a major impact
on the
overall direction of IT abilities to support the business
both with
capabilities and by controlling costs. This is a new game
and one
generally not covered in existing books on Open Source which
continue to
assume that the readers are 'deep dive' technologists, Open
Source for the Enterprise provides everyone from business
managers to technologists
with the balanced view that has been missing. Well worth the
time to
read, and also worth encouraging others in your enterprise
to read as well." ----Andy Mulholland - Global CTO Capgemini
"Open Source for the Enterprise is required reading for
anyone working
with or looking to adopt open source technologies in a
corporate
environment. Its practical, no-BS approach will make sure
you're armed
with the information you need to deploy applications
successfully (as
well as helping you know when to say "no"). If you're trying
to sell open
source to management, this book will give you the ammunition
you need.
If you're a manager trying to drive down cost using open
source, this
book will tell you what questions to ask your staff. In
short, it's a
clear, concise explanation of how to successfully leverage
open source
without making the big mistakes that can get you fired."
----Kevin Bedell - founding editor of LinuxWorld Magazine
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Biting the hand that feeds IT 
Published by: O'REILLY & ASSOCIATES