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Designing an open source strategy requires carefully considering the company’s technology concerns, business plan, financial condition, competitive situation, existing applications and infrastructure, and consulting partners. It also requires assessing the skills and talents of the IT department. Designing the strategy involves adapting general advice to the specific situation of the company and gradually building skills and expanding the adoption of open source.

There are several stages of using open source, starting from scratch at a beginner level and moving to the advanced and expert levels. At each level, IT departments need to analyze the responsibilities and risks they face. They also need to consider the IT needs of the business and the skill level of their IT organization when deciding where to apply open source.

Managing and living with the problems and challenges of using open source in a corporate environment is also a strategic question that needs to be addressed. This includes controlling the use of open source, understanding the differences between using open source as a platform for integration or as an application, and potentially becoming a top-to-bottom open source enterprise.

The strategy for adopting open source should start with a willingness to adopt certain fundamental assumptions, such as a belief in skill building and an inclination to take responsibility and control over IT infrastructure. IT departments should also assess their skills and determine if they have the necessary skills to support open source. They should also evaluate which open source projects offer the most value and perform a ROI analysis to estimate the potential benefits of implementing open source.

The strategy for adopting open source should involve low-risk adoption steps, starting with using productized open source aimed at end-users and gradually building the skills needed to evaluate, install, configure, and operate open source in a production environment. IT departments should focus on developing support procedures for open source applications and gradually build the skills required to find, evaluate, and install open source projects. They should also consider the use of Linux or other open source operating systems and decide which open source components, languages, and projects to focus on.

Moving to the intermediate level involves mastering software development skills to configure, integrate, and extend open source applications. At this level, IT departments should choose which open source components, languages, and projects to focus on and consider the use of Linux or other open source operating systems. The advanced and expert levels require fully-fledged software development skills, a focus on specific languages, components, and applications, and the ability to integrate and extend open source applications to meet the business’s specific needs.

Institutional skill building is crucial to avoid the key-person problem and ensure that skills are preserved and transferred within the organization. This involves identifying the skills required to support open source projects, documenting these skills, and systematically preserving and transferring them within the organization. IT departments can also consider using support services from consulting firms or individuals who are expert in open source.

The strategy for applying open source should involve evaluating the maturity of open source, determining the skills of the IT department, understanding the costs of using open source, and using a taxonomy of IT systems to identify the right areas to apply open source. Open source can be applied as end-user applications, as a computing platform, or for integration and development.

Managing open source adoption requires a governance structure or policy to prevent unmonitored and unauthorized use of open source. This governance structure should be different from the policies used to control other technology due to the unique risks associated with open source. The specific policies will depend on the company’s size, the way it uses open source, and other factors such as the type of business and tolerance for risk. Large companies such as Hewlett-Packard have implemented open source policies and review processes to ensure compliance with corporate standards.

Overall, designing an open source strategy involves considering various strategic questions, gradually building skills, applying open source to the right areas, and managing the risks and challenges associated with open source adoption.

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