Most enterprises today use open source software for everything from desktop applications to mission-critical infrastructure, but many organizations have inconsistent support coverage for the open source they use or lack technical support coverage altogether. Just as companies want technical support for commercial software, they need to evaluate their needs and options for technical support on open source packages. For some enterprises it makes sense to rely on internal expertise for support, while others require commercial support coverage for some or all of the open source software they use.

Whether you're just getting started or highly experienced with open source, this guide is intended to help you select the right type and level of support coverage for your organization by outlining the key issues and costs to consider with different support options. Included in this kit are:

• Detailed analyses of the primary support options, including key questions to consider when evaluating these options
• A comprehensive support worksheet that will help you profile your organization's open source usage and apply support coverage scenarios
• Case studies detailing how OpenLogic's aggregated support model helps enterprises that use multiple open source packages but lack expertise or don't want to tie up internal resources with support issues