Constructing a Corporate Open Source Policy?

Stokey asks: "I work for a global finance firm, (60000+ employees and presence in 25+ countries) in the Group IT department. Pressure is building from the businesses to cut costs and Open Source software has been pushed onto the discussion table. I am trying to educate IT Directors where I can with correct definitions, breaking down assumptions, and will most likely end up writing the group wide Open Source policy. The challenges are well known: risk, cost, support, licensing, benefits, training, and so forth. I am looking for help in putting together a pack that can be handed to our IT Directors forum which contains a policy, TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) reviews, and risk reviews by companies that have done it. After asking what Gartner has to say, the next question will be 'So who else has done this?'. Can Slashdot assist?" What information do you think should be included to sell Open Source to management at the top-level of any corporation or business?

I'm sure several of you have run into this situation before, so I figure this may be as good of a place as any to suggest what information might be appropriate to place in such a policy, especially for future IT workers who find themselves in this position. If people are serious in getting Open Source further into the enterprise than it has already is, such information will be necessary to convince the powers-that-be on the things that we already know: Open Source can be as good as, or better than, commercial software for business tasks. Things like licensing descriptions, common misconceptions, and what Open Source really is would be an absolute must. What other information do you think would be absolutely necessary to include into such policy?

Comments

Who else has an open source policy?

[m00nun1t]

How about Microsoft?

Before?

[KingAdrock]

I'm sure several of you have run into this situation before

Where would a bunch of fifteen year old script kiddies run into something like this?

OSS is cheaper

[scumbucket]

Cheaper software makes it easier for small businesses to grow, and large businesses still need the support and tech's to impliment this software, so they hire, spend, develop, and contribute (via GPL). Anything that lowers the cost to start up and grow a business is good for jobs, good for the economy, good for consumers who now have more choice in the market place.

TCO

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

I am looking for help in putting together a pack that can be handed to our IT Directors forum which contains a policy, TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) reviews

Here you are. I hope that was helpful :-)

Re:ROI

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

No more formatting when a new employee inherits a machine.

I dunno, I bought a Linux box at the auction the other day, whose FQDN is "dubya.whitehouse.gov". It has a lot of funny-looking maps, boring desert photos with incomprehensible cryptic annotations, and (most shocking of all) a large folder labelled "xmas_party" that has a lot of photos of men in leather shorts doing ungodly things. You say it's okay to leave it like that?

Also, an unrelated issue, but I noticed my phone makes these strange clicks whenever I pick it up, and there are 3 or 4 black vans that have been parked in my street for weeks. Have you noticed that too?

Re:Couch it in terms they can understand...

[rjstanford]

This is the reason IBM is behind Linux and therefore OSS, you can still make a hell of alot of money actually making the whole thing work. I hope your tech team is like most of the ones I work with; love to read and learn new things, enjoy long hours in the night and weekends...

You know, from the point of view of a company looking to adopt and use OSS, rather than develop and sell services around it, that's a fairly lousy way to sell the concept...

"Look, its cool! Other companies figure that they can make lots of money from you if you switch to OSS, and your technical staff will have to work long and hard to figure it all out. Plus, upgrades to customized software will be a real bitch!"

Not quite what the original poster was looking for, I think.

Incomplete list.

[Anonymous Coward]

You forgot the most important item.

THE TWINS

Re:Speak to IBM, RedHat

[Sogol]

Its really very simple:

1. OPEN SOURCE
2. ???
3. PROFIT!!!