by CIO Staff

Survey: CIOs Concerned With Open-Source Support Options

News
Mar 15, 20031 min
Open Source

Companies turn to open source because they believe it costs less and is more reliable than traditional software, but they worry about a lack of support, according to a recent CIO online survey of 375 IT professionals. Almost two-thirds (64 percent) of the respondents said their companies use open-source software. Here’s what they had to say about its strengths and weaknesses. (To see why their fears are misplaced, read “Your Open-Source Plan,” Page 52.)

Top three strengths of open source:

Lower capital investment 63 percent
Lower total cost of ownership 59 percent
Greater reliability and uptime 41 percent
Top three weaknesses of open source:
Lack of vendor support 52 percent
Lack of labor skills to support open source 50 percent
Viability of open-source vendors 45 percent