He added that when companies consider any software acquisition, several factors come into play. This includes the level of reliability and security, as well as the skills needed to use the software effectively.
"At the end of the day, the concerns surrounding open source and proprietary software are very similar," Chee said.
He said the lack of skills in deploying open source software remains a problem among Asia-Pacific companies, including small and midsize businesses which typically do not have in-house tech expertise or an IT department.
On Microsoft's move to provide assurances against patent lawsuits, Chee said that Asia-Pacific companies do not have major concerns about being sued for using Linux, because "it's really a problem between vendors, and not the end users".
"Typically, vendors will give assurances to the end user community on the things that will protect them from lawsuits," Chee said. "From what I've seen in our previous surveys when the SCO litigation was at its peak, users didn't say that litigation was a key concern."
Beyond Linux
While the Linux operating system has been the poster child of the open source community, the market for open source business applications like CRM and ERP is still nascent, Chee said.
Jason Lim, director of technology at iZeno, a Singapore-based systems integrator that specializes in open source business applications such as Compiere ERP and SugarCRM, said: "Most people hardly hear of open source business applications, but we think open source will slowly move up the software stack."
Open-source business applications have matured over the years, particularly in terms of features and usability, but there is still room for improvement.
"Developers like to build impressive architectures, and very few are focused on UI (user interface)--that could also be why we've not seen mass adoption of open source business applications," Lim said. "You can tell business users about all the features available, but if usability is poor, adoption will be very low."
Lim said that it is generally easier to sell the open source story to SMBs since it provides cheaper alternatives to the likes of SAP and Oracle. Almost all of iZeno's customers are SMBs.
"It's very difficult for us to go into the multinational companies because they can't [afford for] systems to go down for even an hour, and not many systems integrators support the applications," Lim said.
"Furthermore, not many enterprises are willing to take the first step to run their critical operations such as finances on open source ERP applications," Lim added.
However, one area that large enterprises may be more receptive to using open source is CRM. Lim said that unlike ERP, if issues arise in the open source CRM application, the entire business operations will not be affected.
He added that the relatively simpler workflow processes in CRM requires a smaller degree of customization, so enterprises can get these applications deployed quickly.
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Our experience is that enterprise takes up open source for cost savings and integration flexibility. For example open source CRM, SugarCRM is only 275 USD per year. This is almost 70% against proprietary vendors. Compiere ERP is 100% cost saving for people looking for mid tier application.
Posted by Benny Ng on Saturday, August 04 2007 04:44 PM