Open Source and the Future of Enterprise Technology

Where would businesses be today if not for enterprise software and technology? Probably not as far as they’ve already come, and certainly achieving less than what they have. Thanks to enterprise technology businesses and organizations of all sizes and backgrounds have the means to operate more efficiently, more cost-effectively, and more productively.

And what has been driving enterprise technology in recent years? You guessed it: open source software.

The Impact of Open Source Software on Enterprise Technology

When you look at enterprise technology today, what do you see? In most cases, it’s open source that’s taken over. In Red Hat’s recent State of Enterprise Open Source report, it’s been found that many enterprise areas have been defined by open source in recent years, even those that have been historically more associated with proprietary applications. These areas include cloud management, security and analytics, among many others.

Taking a look at each of these areas you’ll find open source more often than not has taken the lead in usage and innovation. When you take a look at machine learning and AI for instance, it’s TensorFlow that’s become the dominant choice for a lot of developers. In the area of big data there’s Apache Spark and Hadoop; in containers there’s Docker and Kubernetes; and even in mobile where Apple is seen as a force to be reckoned with, it’s still Android that takes the lead when it comes to innovation.

It’s not at all surprising that open source has in many ways dominated enterprise technology. Not only is it cheaper than its proprietary counterparts, in many cases it’s also considered genuinely better software because of the level of innovation and customization it is able to achieve. With today’s very competitive marketplace, it’s those that are able to innovate and customize their experiences and offerings that usually come out on top.

Open Source and the Future of Enterprise Technology

Enterprise technology has certainly been molded and driven by open source software, and it seems pretty clear that the future of enterprise technology will continue to be shaped by it as well. According to the latest Red Hat report, the use of enterprise open source is expected to increase from 36% to 44% in the next two years, and even community-based open source is projected to increase from 19% to 21% within the same time frame. While the latter figure may not seem like much, it’s certainly more optimistic than the expected change for proprietary software, which is projected to decrease in usage from 42% to 32%. This means that enterprise open source will, very soon, eclipse proprietary software in usage.

The report also showed that the majority of respondents (86%) had a general view of enterprise open source as being used by the most innovative companies, and instrumental in their organization’s ability to take advantage of cloud architectures (83%). Being a foundation for digital transformation, hybrid cloud architecture is something that most of the respondents already had or plan to have in the near future.

So if your business is aiming to become among these innovative companies– and let’s face it, what company isn’t– then utilizing open source is definitely the way to do it. As the Red Hat report points out, using open source in enterprise– “it’s not about being cheaper than proprietary software, or ‘good enough’ from a technology perspective. It’s about organizations and individuals coming together to collectively invent the future.”