Architectural Issues in Opening Up the Advantages of Open Source in Product Development Companies

Many product development companies are seeking to remain competitive by reconsidering their development strategies, realising the importance of focusing effort on software innovation. Open Source Software is seen by an increasing number of people as a feasible approach to utilising valuable commodity software development and maintenance, allowing them to concentrating on differentiated software. However, such a change presents new challenges. This paper proposes a three-level approach to preparing a company for leveraging the advantages of Open Source Software. The proposal is motivated through a case study in a company which could be seen as an exemplar of the current state of the art in Open Source adoption in complex domains.