Open source use grows 68% as corporations buy into the software solution

Dive Brief:

Almost one in three IT leaders say open source is very important to the enterprise and "a negligible 1% dismisses" it altogether, according to a Red Hat survey of more than 900 IT leaders with a role in enterprise open source.
Open source use in the enterprise has increased 68% in the last 12 months. IT modernization is the No. 1 function for open source in enterprises. Open source is used almost equally in website development, big data and analytics, cloud management tools, databases and security.
Businesses looking to use more open source are likely moving legacy applications to the cloud, modernizing their infrastructure, managing hybrid or multiclouds, and using it for automation and configuration, according to the report.

Dive Insight:

Cloud basics? Old news. Companies want layers of solutions to amplify the cloud experience. Enter open source.

Microsoft, historically opposed to open source, is working to build trust with the community following its $7.5 billion GitHub acquisition. IBM acquired Red Hat for $34 billion in a move that could redefine the hybrid cloud space.

Developers don't want a corporation's influence on code, evidenced by the tension created over Google's use of Java. The debate was brought on by Oracle after it acquired Java creator Sun Microsystems.

Open source affords companies "genuinely better software" and a lower cost of ownership, according to the report. It also allows companies to embrace more agile approaches to solving issues, as opposed to relying on proprietary companies.

The meshing of corporate culture with open source communities could also boost DevOps in organizations. Together open source and DevOps have the ability to co-create solutions while monitoring it and offering patches for security flaws.

Still, open source is greeted with trepidation around the security of the code, how much support is available to it and compatibility with existing software, according to the report. Unmanaged open source code can unintentionally expose a company to risk and therefore a larger security issue.