The 10X Factor: Are Enterprises Using More Open Source Than They Think?

  

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As part of OpenLogi'cs sales process, we ask customers for an inventory of what open source they have deployed.  Typically this inventory is not easy for most enterprises to provide.  Most would send emails to a large group of people to ask what open source was being used, and then compile the responses in a spreadsheet.  Some companies would have a starting point of a few open source packages that they had approved for use, but they knew that list was a fraction of what was actually deployed.  Unfortunately, most software asset management packages don't detect installed open source software.

To solve this problem, we developed a free software tool that we call OpenLogic Discovery.  It can be run on an individual machine or a group of machines to find the installed open source software.  At this point, it can find 900 of the most popular open source packages, and the list it can find will grow over time.   

We recently worked with a customer who predicted that they were using about 20 different open source packages.  After running OpenLogic Discovery, we found that they were using over 200 different packages (and over 1000 different versions).  Hence a 10x difference between perception and reality.  I'm starting to think that this may not be all that uncommon.  If that's true, then enterprises are using a lot more open source than they think.

We think that's good news, because it means that enterprises are getting lots of use and value out of open source.

OpenLogic Discovery is now available as a free download on www.openlogic.com.  You can also register to get a free inventory analysis that summarizes and analyzes the results from over 500 machines.

Kim