Replacing Proprietary Software with Open Source Software

Most companies face high expenditures and numerous challenges in today's competitive industrial environment where cost of technology can be an extra burden. To address these challenges, businesses can use Open Source Software (OSS). Even though OSS provides many benefits, including high-quality software and substantial profit (Sohn & Mok, 2008), OSS also has a number of disadvantages. In several countries, governments have begun to recognize the importance of OSS and have started to adopt explicit policies on OSS (Cook & Horobin, 2006). Open Source Software holds several compelling benefits for businesses. Information on wide-ranging use and examples of OSS in organizations are scattered and sometimes skewed to a few OSS. The chapter identifies different OSS that are currently used or have the potential to substitute other proprietary software packages in business; how organizations share information and how OSS is used globally by organizations and governments and their implications thereof is reviewed.