Reconnix recently surveyed 100 IT leaders in the UK’s private and public sectors.
The survey revealed that, within the next five years, over half of respondents will spend at least 20% of their IT budget on OpenSource applications and software.
The results also showed that as much as 61% of respondents intend to invest 20% or more in OpenSource. The majority—48%—were expecting to invest between 20% – 40%. 10% believe that their OpenSource spend could account for as much as 60% of their total budget.
This Represents a Huge Climb.
It is up from the 72% of IT leaders who say that today OpenSource technology makes up just a fifth or under (0-20%) of their portfolio.
The survey also revealed that investment levels in OpenSource technology will continue to rise. 16% suggested that they expect to dedicate 40-60% of their budgets to OpenSource technology by 2023. 4% believe they will be allocating between 80-100% of their budgets to OpenSource technology by that time.
Set against a backdrop of challenges, including reduced IT budgets, a lack of IT skills and IT infrastructures burdened by complexity, this drive for future investment may well be hampered by the current levels of Open Source traction. 77% of respondents reflect this. They indicated that they intend to invest less than 20% of their total IT spend on OpenSource technology in the next 12 months.
The Barriers to OpenSource Adoption are Rife.
47% of IT leaders revealed that cost implications is a current barrier to the adoption of OpenSource technology. Another 43% said that vendor lock in was a barrier, too. These leaders also indicated that a lack of in-house skills was holding them back. 55% of IT leaders also agreed that that there is little to no understanding of OpenSource amongst C-level decision makers outside of the IT department. This could make it harder to justify investment into this technology to the executive level.
The research findings have shown that OpenSource is definitely on the agenda for IT leaders. Yet, many IT leaders seem hesitant to invest in this technology as priority. Rather, they prefer to put it off as a challenge to resolve in the medium-term. The reality is that the sooner an organisation adopts Open Source into an its IT Eco-System, the sooner an organisation as a whole can enjoy the flexibility, agility and cost savings associated with this type of technology.
The benefits of OpenSource software have been well documented. Yet, there is also huge potential for any enterprise to make significant savings, with regards to the total cost of ownership of their IT estate, by implementing these technologies.
Find out more about the future of Open Source technology investment. Download the Open for Business insight paper. Alternatively, call Reconnix on 08454210444.
What do you think about the report? Do you disagree with any of it? Let us know, leave a comment below!