Buy vs Build vs Opensource in confusedofcalcutta.com

JP makes some interesting points (as always) in his post in confusedofcalcutta.com while discussing when to build vs. buy vs. Opensource software. He goes on to say the staff in an IT department should devote their time in accordance with the problem they are solving. And then, the part that set me thinking was -

“You see, the primary reason why “proprietary” companies get upset with things like opensource is because they’re fighting a losing battle. They want us to pay a premium for the solutions to our common problems, because that’s their business model.”

I couldn’t agree with him more. But I also think that we cannot entirely presuppose that it is because of a favorable already-in-place business model that’s causing them to be leery and in many ways upset with the thought of Opensource. A major part of the problem is defining the problem itself and having a better understanding of what we are trying to solve. In other words, does the internal IT department and the vendors understand whether it is a common problem, rare problem, or a unique problem in the first place? Is the solution going to be generic and can be applied to others in the industry? Is it applicable across industry? And so on. To answer these questions folks in the IT departments need not only internal awareness and understanding of their own problem but also need to know what’s going on outside their organization in other places. Sharing of information through industry networks and participation in such communities (including Opensource as JP mentioned) becomes very important to obtain and get educated in this information. It requires management commitment and incentives for the staff to participate in these forums. In my work life, over the last few years, I have found there is a gradual decrease of participants from utility companies (including IT department) in industry conferences, workgroups, and even in the standardization processes for a variety of reasons – most common of those are motivated by cost cutting and evaporation of an incentive program for staff to engage in these activities. Most of the participants these days represent vendors or consulting companies. It is interesting to see that this lack of information and external awareness is correlated to loss of power with vendors in seeking solutions or even buying systems and services. By the same token, a few leading utilities leverage tremendous buying power with vendors driving the vendors to innovate and incorporate features and even not paying any premium simply because they could justify that the problems are not unique as being claimed by the vendor. So while it is important to focus on the nature of our solutions, it is equally important to understand the problem. And the role of industry communities, knowledge groups, sharing of information, relationships, and conversations are vitally important at the problem side of the equation as well.