Open source firms register confidence in UK government policy

Open source vendors have responded favourably to the government's Action Plan

UK open source vendors have high hopes for the government's official commitment to open software, and believe that the Action Plan launched on 24 February will be a breakthrough for Downing Street's procurement model.

The Open Source, Open Standards and Re–Use plan was described as a "watershed" in government policy during a recent roundtable event attended by representatives from Red Hat, Ingres and Alfresco.

"Even though the government has been talking about going open source since 2004, this is by far the strongest commitment yet," said Steve Shine, worldwide operations senior vice president at Ingres.

The plan was unveiled in February by Tom Watson, minister for digital engagement, who claimed that it was designed to ensure maximum value for tax payers.

The government promised to actively consider open source solutions alongside proprietary offerings in making procurement decisions. Where there is no significant overall cost difference between the two types, departments will select open source on the basis of its additional flexibility.

The new policy explicitly asks whether software is interoperable, and will avoid the government being locked into particular product sets.

"The licensing policies of software suppliers, particularly where government is not treated as a single entity, and the lack of cost transparency in the supply chain, have created issues in the progress towards greater cost reduction and the joining-up of services across government," the plan noted.

This was picked up on by Shine during the roundtable discussion, who argued that the UK government was the first that had adequately dealt with the " supplier challenge".

"If you use proprietary software you get stuck in the exit costs and these are enormous, which is why those companies tend to drive up costs so much. In contrast, businesses buying open source products do not need to pay until they implement the product, and that's only if they want to buy the support services, " he said.

But Shine also suggested that the government's commitment was part of a larger national move towards open source software owing to the state of the British economy.

"Before, chief information officers from profitable companies did not mind paying the extra cash on proprietary software, but now that they are experiencing budget cuts they realise that the decision has put them in a difficult position. They can either cut the vendor, which they often can't do because they are locked in, or the staff. It should really be a more flexible model," said Shine.

Ian Howells, chief marketing officer at Alfresco, noted that, although the UK has lagged behind France and Spain in the adoption of open source software, the government can learn from best practice.

Howells also thought it unlikely that the US would adopt a similar action plan. "In the US, it is vendors like Microsoft and Oracle that are chosen to give big businesses support and advice. But in places like France and Spain, it is a more fragmented industry," he said.

The Action Plan shows how the government's approach to measuring return on investment has changed, according to Howells. "It is now about how much departments can reuse people, hardware and the software they already have," he said.

However, Ketan Karia, marketing executive at Ingres, was less trusting of the government's promise. He asked the journalists around the table to act as a check on the government to ensure that it fulfils its promise.

"The UK was slow to adopt open source because of the significant proprietary lobby that plays directly to the politicians, and that is as controversial as I can get without naming names," he said.

"Now what forced the government's hand to change the policy was also political. We know that the opposition was pushing for change. We need to ensure that the government stays honest to its commitment by analysing its policy."

The roundtable also discussed a statement by the government that it will aim to create a more "level playing field" between open source and proprietary software.

Philip Andrews, regional director at Red Hat, suggested that the open source community will have great opportunities in the virtualisation market because it is only about 20 per cent saturated with vendors in comparison to other markets.

"It is a good opportunity for open source vendors to enter a market that is less mature," he said.

Finally, Shine said that IBM's rumoured interest in buying Sun Microsystems demonstrates the success of open source. "And it is unlikely to disrupt Sun's model because IBM is not regarded as a competitor to the community due to its service operated sales model," he said.