Surveys Show Continuing Interest in the Cloud, Confidence in Open Source

The end of the year usually ushers in a few compelling surveys in the open source arena, and a few interesting findings on cloud computing and IT trends are arriving now. Zimbra, which specializes in collaboration software, has announced the results of the Ponemon Institute’s “The Open Source Collaboration Study: Viewpoints on Security and Privacy in the U.S. and EMEA” report. The study surveyed 1,398 IT and IT security practitioners to learn about their companies’ involvement in the use of open source messaging and collaboration solutions, and their views on security and privacy.

Meanwhile, IDG Enterprise is out with results from a survey it did involving 1,672 IT decision-makers, and they show that cloud adoption of all kinds continues apace.

According to the Ponemon Institute survey, over 70 percent of software engineers and administrators believe open source and open core software, respectively, are more reliable than proprietary alternatives. "This new research shows that cost savings are no longer the hallmark of open source in the minds of IT professionals, with the ability to lower costs ranking below quality in importance," the survey results report.

 The study also found that IT professionals are dissatisfied with their current collaboration and messaging platforms, the majority of which are proprietary software solutions. And, 55 percent of U.S. respondents and 52 percent of EMEA respondents said their organizations will be replacing their messaging and collaboration solutions within two years.

Among key findings in the survey:

 - Seventy-four percent of U.S. IT professionals agree that commercial open source software offers better continuity and control.

- Sixty-six percent of IT practitioners in the U.S. agree that commercial open source software means fewer bugs, and 63 percent believe it will boost quality compared to proprietary software.

- The ability to lower costs is no longer the main point of differentiation for open source software, according to IT professionals in the U.S. and EMEA; business continuity, control and quality rank above cost concerns, but all outperform proprietary software in the minds of IT professionals.

“There is significant opportunity for open source to play a central role in the future of security and privacy across the U.S. and EMEA,” said Rob Howard, Zimbra chief technology officer, in a statement. “And, the research supports a trend that we see in our own business; open source provides far more benefit than cost savings alone. It delivers on quality and control, and it empowers IT to make an impact on more than just the bottom line.”

The IDG Enterprise survey found that T managers are still surveying the lay of the land and planning cloud deployments. Overall, 56 percent of companies are still in the process of identifying IT operations that they want to migrate to the cloud, according to the findings. But more companies are done with the process now -- 38 percent compared to 33 percent last year.

The results also showed:

"More than two-thirds (69%) of companies have already made cloud investments. The rest plan to do so within the next three years. Companies appear to be moving steadily: Respondents anticipate their cloud usage will expand, on average, by 38% in the next 18 months. At the end of 2015, companies expect to be operating an average of 53% of their IT environments in the cloud."

You dan find an extended discussion of the IDG Enterprise results here, including a link for downloading a full report from IDG.