90 percent of developers think open source is crucial to business growth

Enterprise cloud developers believe open source will be key to the future of their organizations, as businesses look to restart growth post-pandemic.

Research from Finnish software company Aiven surveyed 200 UK developers in large companies and shows that 90.5 percent say open source will be a part of the future of their organizations.

Enterprise adoption of open source software has grown rapidly in recent years as businesses looked for cost-effective and innovative solutions to drive growth. The pandemic has accelerated this trend, with organizations looking at how they can improve business processes and maintain growth despite the economic downturn.

The most popular advantage of open source cited by developers is the transparency of the code, which makes it easier to find and fix bugs quickly. 69 per cent of respondents identify this as a key benefit, with other benefits given including reduced vendor lock-in (52.5 percent) and the ability to build your own features (52.5 percent).

However, developers are also frank about the challenges associated with open source, with 52 per cent saying maintenance is an obstacle to using open source technology. This is the most cited challenge among respondents, compared to other barriers to open source adoption including difficulties configuring or installing the software (48 percent), a lack of support (45 percent), and hidden costs (27 percent).

"Using open source software is a fantastic way for enterprises to take advantage of the latest innovation in software," says Heikki Nousiainen, CTO and co-founder at Aiven. "More importantly, it provides businesses with the flexibility for growth, without having to worry about vendor lock-in and other challenges that come with using proprietary software. However, open source software does not come without its own challenges and it is crucial that businesses looking to adopt open source have the necessary support to overcome any hurdles associated with installation and maintenance, whether that be built in-house or provided by a third-party."

Find out more on the Aiven blog.

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