Open Source Trends and Business Models. (July 2006).

"Revenue estimates and forecasts based on Linux and other Open Source (OS) environments indicate that the OS environment is growing rapidly worldwide. Revenues for 2005 are expected to show a 48 percent increase over those of 2004 and a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 36 percent is forecast between 2004 and 2008. Major software developing companies such as IBM and HP that traditionally used the proprietary model of software development have increasingly adopted OS. Indeed, companies may find that embracing Open Source Software (OSS) is not an option, but an imperative, in order to maintain market share. So it is not necessarily a question of either/or, as both models continue to be operated successfully in the commercial world."

"In this report, the Council further explores this theme by examining the phenomenon of “openness,” which the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and evelopment (OECD) calls “an underlying technical and philosophical tenet of the expansion of electronic commerce” that will “cause transformations, for better (e.g. increased transparency, competition) or worse (e.g. potential invasion of privacy), in the economy and society.” But what is “openness” in the context of today’s digital economy? There are many potential definitions. Works and processes are usually neither open nor closed but somewhere on a spectrum between the two. One key attribute of openness is accessibility. The more accessible a work is to anyone, the more open it is. Another attribute of openness involves responsiveness—as the degree to which a work can be modified by anyone increases, so too does the work’s level of openness."

"Commercial Open Source applications will have a significant and growing impact on the $60 billion enterprise software market in coming years. Commercial Open Source’s try-before-you-buy appeal is difficult for traditional software companies to match and will affect how enterprise software is bought and sold. Business leaders should evaluate commercial open source solutions for mature product areas such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Content Management and Business Intelligence. Until quite recently, “open source business model” was a contradiction in terms. Open source, common wisdom held, was merely the work of activists who had little interest in making a profit. Today, open source is a serious business that’s generating sizable revenues and profits while delivering significant cost advantages to customers. To understand this change is to better grasp the ways in which open source has come to be embraced by users and traditional software suppliers."