Upgrading? Choose open source first

A study by Prof. Jim Norton recommends that CIOs looking to replace legacy systems should consider open source options over proprietary software or public cloud services, according to a report published today by Australia’s ITNews.

The report was commissioned by travel business giant Amadeus, assessed the role of open source software in critical transaction systems and aimed at CIOs in the travel business and associated sectors who are envisaging replacing legacy proprietary IT systems.

Prof. Norton argues that open source provides enterprise IT with easier access to innovation via a “great global self-re-enforcing community of shared resources, ideas and development” and moreover that open source is also preferred by the next generation of tech talent, adding: “If you don’t provide them with tools for Drupal, for Hadoop, for jQuery, they aren’t happy bunnies.”

Amadeus, who commissioned Prof. Norton’s report, have also been moving their bookings and associated systems over to Linux too. Amadeus’ Executive Vice-President Hervé Couturier stated: “We commissioned this study to highlight to our customers and shareholders our use of open systems and contribution to open systems”.

We couldn’t agree more with Prof. Norton and Amadeus and the whole-hearted support for open source, particularly as the world plus dog is hurrying sheep-like towards the nebulous benefits of cloud computing!

It’s worth adding that we in Bristol Wireless have been extolling (and demonstrating) the benefits of open source for the last 10 years. Perhaps the message would be taken more seriously if the message was delivered more frequently by learned academics such as Prof. Norton, as well as T-shirted penguinistas such as ourselves. 🙂