Business essentials: the open source software movement

Businesses are being urged to “wake up to the benefits” of open source technology in order to not risk being left behind by the growing swath of companies moving over to this way of thinking.

Research carried out by CWJobs.co.uk found that 62 per cent of IT professionals think that businesses are already missing out on the opportunities that open source technology presents. This is laid bare further by the fact that of the 300 IT professionals surveyed, 48 per cent think that there are already more jobs in open source than a year ago.

“Businesses must wake up to the benefits of open source and ensure they have the right expertise in place to help realise its full potential. Interestingly, half of IT professionals said they would move into a business because of their open source reputation or willingness to train staff in open source skills,” said Mike Black, sales director at CWJobs.

When it comes to looking at the benefits that come with open source software, flexibility topped the list on 45 per cent and it is followed by cost with 33 per cent, and 46 per cent don’t think organisations understand the real advantages that open source brings.

“Open source is being used everywhere; it underpins the Internet, and is arguably the most important enabler of the use of Big Data in businesses. Its importance will continue to grow with far-reaching effects on the UK jobs market,” added Mark Taylor, UK director at Open Source Software Institute.

71 per cent think that open source will be used more widely in the future and the most growth will be in advertising and media, telecoms and financial services. Stunting the growth are a variety of barriers and 40 per cent stated that worries over security is the highest of these and 29 per cent stated a lack of understanding is to blame for lower adoption.