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Cover Story
Data Mining & Business Intelligence >> Open for Business
2/1/2007
How to Pick an Open Source App
Experts say that selecting good open source software isn’t easier than choosing the right conventional software package, it’s just different. Beyond the usual tests that a CIO would run on any kind of software, smart open source shoppers perform some additional due diligence as well. Unlike conventional software, with open source, safety lies not in the company, but with the users: A large user base is insurance that if something goes wrong with your program, other people are likely to be having the same problem—and someone out there may decide to solve it. The first step in the kind of detective work that will help you determine solidity of product, comes down to asking five questions:
- Have there been a large number of downloads of the program? The more downloads, the more likely that the user base is large.
- Are there a lot of comments about the software in forums? A quick read of the commentary by users and developers will give you a sense of whether the software has a strong user base, consultants say. In addition, “We used the newsgroup quite heavily to find out things that we didn’t know,” reports Rebecca Gribble, manager of decision support services at Indiana University.
- In examining the postings, are issues raised and then resolved? If they’re not, it can be an indication that the open source project is not all that solid. “You want to see that there’s definitely project activity,” says Mark Madsen, an IT consultant based in Rogue River, OR.
- Does there seem to be an active group of developers? If an open source project is still under way, skimming a selection of posts is a good way to get a sense of whether there is a good team behind the program.
- Are there staff members available to answer questions? Amy Stephen, a data and internet specialist for the University of Nebraska, says she passed on one open source BI provider because she couldn’t get anyone to return her calls, and she figured that the behavior was unlikely to get better after the university adopted the application.
Higher and Lower Risks
Still, if open source BI is so great, why haven’t more campus CIOs heard more about it? One reason, says di Paolantonio, is that open source software isn’t “out there,” being hawked by high-priced salespeople. Since the software can be downloaded for free or for a minimal fee, the marketing budget is much lower, he says. As a result, he adds, “it’s not real likely that you’re going to find some Armani-suited field service guy who pulls down a million dollar commission check, trying to convince you to opt for open source BI.”
Another reason: the perception by some CIOs that a commercial company is somehow more accountable, even through legal recourse (a commercial vendor, after all, can be vulnerable to litigation if its product doesn’t work). Yet, many open source proponents feel the option of legal recourse is more or less a false sense of security that doesn’t pan out in the real world anyway. (How many technology vendors has your institution sued recently?)
Open source BI is also a newcomer to the technology scene, and new software is often not quite housebroken. Consultants and vendors caution that very small IT departments may have difficulty installing the programs. “If your IT department consists of close to zero technical staff, you might have some challenges,” says Lance Walter, VP of marketing for Pentaho.
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