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IT Funding
It’s ‘Open’ Season
Open Source
2/1/2008
"For ERP applications, library systems, and CMS, for example, the pattern is clear," IU's Wheeler has stated in an industry journal. "After a period of intense early competition, there is considerable commercial consolidation-if not near monopolization-of each software category." According to Wheeler, the situation is "economically efficient" for higher ed software vendors, but leaves schools with few options when the values of software owners and users are at odds.
"Price increases, forced upgrades, and/or dropped support for current products are sometimes imposed by rational commercial interests pursuing their values," he wrote. Another plus for open source, or more specifically for Sakai, lies in the ability to add features and tools without incurring additional expenses, Blakley notes. An organization may, for example, start with Sakai's announcements tool, and then add its gradebook and syllabus tools.
What's more, the collaborative nature of open source development means schools like Georgia Tech can leverage the work of others, Blakley says. "Sakai is developed and enhanced by schools with missions similar to those of Georgia Tech," he explains, citing the contributions of Indiana University, the University of Michigan, and UC-Berkeley. "So, it's a good fit for what they need. The notion of fit is almost as big a value proposition as control."
In fact, Wheeler points to the ability to leverage the resources of others as open source's greatest appeal. "For example, in the past, when Cornell University [NY] spent $500,000 for some system, the investment provided no advantage to San Joaquin Delta College [CA]," Wheeler has observed. "The open source model changes all of this: It provides a real tool to solve the ‘do more with less' challenge facing higher ed. To put it bluntly, all of us in open source are mutually using other people's money to get and sustain the systems we need." Besides Sakai, other open source efforts include the Kuali Financial System, the Moodle CMS, and uPortal.
TCO is, without doubt, an attractive lure to open source, but what Wheeler describes as "shared value creation" may have value beyond measure, and may be a model that more universities and colleges will determine to adopt.
-John Moore has been writing about IT in education, government, and healthcare for 20 years.
John Moore has been writing about information technology in education, government, and healthcare for 20 years.
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