With most commercial software, it is rare that a customer just buys the basic suite. Instead, they usually have the software customized by the parent company or by an outside consulting firm. Unfortunately, when the parent company releases another version of the original software, the customization that the customer added is left behind. This works out very well for the commercial companies and the outside consulting firms that help customers update their software, but it does not work out as well for the customer.

For customers who need a great deal of customization done to their business intelligence software, open source may be the answer. There are a few ways that they can ensure that a new version of the software will not affect the customization that they applied to their product.

Become Involved in the Open Source Community – Once a company becomes involved in the community they will have more input into whether or not the changes that they made to the original source code are included in a new version. This is, of course, assuming that they released the code that they created when they customized their project into the community. Ways to get involved in the community include participating in forums, not just asking questions, but providing answers as well; adding to a community’s to-do list; and completing one of the tasks on the to-do list.

Use Internal Resources to Build the Appropriate Applications – With access to the source code, a company can use their internal IT resources to enhance their business intelligence software. During this process, it would be important to document the changes made and how they were written so that if the company decided to keep its changes internal, then they could recreate the applications when a new version of the software was release. This could prove to be time consuming, so unless the applications that are developed in house are crucial to the competitiveness of a company, it is usually more prudent to share the new code with the community once it is developed, so that it is carried over to the new version without any hassle.

Hiring an Outside Consulting Firm or Contacting the Parent Company – For companies who need business intelligence software, but don’t have a strong IT team, hiring an outside consulting firm or contacting the parent company for additional applications is usually the best course of action. Although this option will cost the company more than the first two options, it usually costs far less than paying the licensing fees on commercial software. The downside to this option is that it is rare for these applications to make their way into a new version of the source code, but if the application is useful enough there is a chance that the parent company may make the code public as well.

Open source BI is usually as easy as or even easier than most commercial software to customize. Depending on internal resources, a company can make their own changes, petition the open source community for changes, hire a developer, or do all three depending on the situation.

Sometimes when an open source version of business intelligence software is made available to the public, it is the exact same source code as the parent company’s commercial version of the software. Some users, however, would rather buy the commercial version because they believe that this software is more stable than its open source counterpart is. In cases where the code is exactly the same, the fact of the matter is that those users end up missing out on the benefits of becoming a part of the open source community. The community consists not only of users, but typically also includes the code developers and/or employees of the parent company.

Community Resources

The open source community is a great place to ask questions and get support. Open source forums provide a place for users to pose queries or ask for help. There are also opportunities to share new code, tips, and other ideas with the rest of the community. By using the open source community for development and testing, participating companies can achieve a much faster turnaround for a new application.

Being Heard

Open source users typically have more influence in the development of software. They can lobby the community development group for a specific feature or develop one in house and share it with the community, who can then improve it and help work out any bugs. The more a CIO allows his or her organization to become a part of the open source community, the more likely it is that the needs of their company will be met. Ways to integrate into an open source community include making bug fixes, making suggestions, adding to the to-do list, and assigning personnel from the user company to take on a to-do list item. All of these activities contribute to a good working relationship with the rest of the community.

Sharing Changes

When a company makes changes to the source code for internal use, they don’t have to release the new code to the community. However, if the original code is under a GPL license and the company decides to distribute the derivative work, they must also distribute the source code. If they decide to keep the code internal and not share the derivative with the community, they run the risk of having to re-integrate that functionality when a new version of the open source code is made available. If the change is something that everyone can use, then it is more beneficial to release it into the community so that it is carried along with the product when a new version is created.

The open source BI community that is developed when open source software is released is a great incentive for any company to go with open source as opposed to commercial BI software.