SINGAPORE: IDC's latest studies, "Asia/Pacific (Excluding Japan) Open Source Software Adoption in 2009", and "Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) Open Source Software Adoptions: Customer Case Study" reveal that organizations have started to evaluate open source software (OSS) as a viable alternative while they are trying to find ways to reduce their operational expenses.

75 pc developers employ open source in APAC

Indonesia has a high percentage of respondents that plan to deploy new open source CRM applications (34.5 percent) over the next 18 months.

According to IDC Asia/Pacific Continuum Study 2009, the software with the highest percentage of respondents from each primary market that intend to use open source over the next 18 months include CRM applications (9.7 percent), database management (8.4 percent), and virtualization software (7.4 percent).

Myths about open source developers

"Verticals like distribution services (13.0 percent), infrastructure services (12.1 percent) and public sector (11.8 percent) plan to deploy open source for CRM applications within the next 18 months", says Ridhi Sawhney, market analyst of Asia/Pacific Enterprise Applications Research at IDC.

"The public sector has started to consider open source not only because of obvious benefits from cost reductions, but also with an aim to build an ecosystem, lower the entry barrier, and promote open source adoption," added Sawhney.

Open Source is our next level: Microsoft

Vendors position OSS as a solution, rather than a point product, by customizing to the needs of specific verticals. Focus is also on building a partner ecosystem and facilitating vendors' expansion through partners' sales support and services. There are also many instances of the open source vendors collaborating to create awareness and generate demand. Examples are Alfresco and SugarCRM Ingres and Jaspersoft; as well as Red Hat and Ingres.

"Other perceived benefits of adopting open source, apart from the traditional cost savings, include no vendor lock-in, access to the source code, and the flexibility to further customize the software to match individual needs. All these in turn increase the ease of integration with the existing infrastructure of an organization, as well as the compatibility with different platforms. This gives the organization an opportunity to use and test open source without changing their whole IT infrastructure," adds Ridhi.

Overall, apart from the large vendors like Red Hat, Sun, and EnterpriseDB that have direct presence in the region, others rely heavily on their partners. Other sources like Web trainings, pilots, and proof of concept via phone are also widely used.

However, the lack of direct presence, localization, and support and services offerings continue to be key challenges to get the projects started and lower the common barriers of starting business overseas said the press release.

One of the chief fears of end-user organizations is the perceived lack of internal and external skills to support the shift towards adopting an open source strategy. IDC finds that organizations would be more likely to subscribe to hardware or software support services in order to support open source software. This is closely followed by application management/outsourcing and training/education services.