GUEST POST from Art Inteligencia

Open source software is becoming increasingly popular in the corporate environment. Companies are starting to realize the potential benefits of leveraging the skills and resources of the open source community to save them time and money. By tapping into the collective brainpower of the open source community, companies can use open source projects to build their own software and create more efficient processes. In this article, we’ll take a look at what companies can learn from open source projects, and provide two case study examples.

The first benefit of open source projects is access to a broad range of skills and experience. By using open source projects, companies can access the expertise of a distributed group of developers that may not be available in a single location. This provides the potential for increased collaboration among developers and allows companies to create more comprehensive software solutions.

The second benefit of open source projects is cost savings. Companies do not need to invest in expensive software licenses in order to use open source software. Instead, they can use existing licenses or simply use a shared license with other companies. This can be a great cost-saving measure for companies that are looking to quickly develop and deploy software solutions.

Finally, open source projects give companies the opportunity to build better software solutions. Companies can not only access the best ideas and practices from the open source community, but can also use their own internal development and engineering teams to improve the software. This allows companies to leverage the creativity of their own specialized staff to develop and implement innovative solutions.

To illustrate these points, we will look at two case studies. The first involves the auto manufacturer General Motors. GM used an open source platform called Automotive Edge Computing Consortium (AECC) to develop an in-vehicle service platform that allowed drivers to customize the entertainment, navigation and other functions through the push of a few buttons. The platform also allowed GM to keep car maintenance costs low and deliver a more personalized driving experience.

The second example involves Microsoft. Microsoft used the open source .NET software development framework to create their Office suite of applications. This allowed Microsoft to streamline the development, testing and deployment processes, while ensuring that the applications were secure and could be easily updated.

By leveraging the power of open source projects, companies can build better software solutions at a fraction of the cost. The benefits of open source include access to a broad range of skills and experience, cost savings, and the ability to create better software solutions. The two case studies above demonstrate these benefits in practice. By taking advantage of the potential of open source projects, companies can develop more efficient processes and create innovative solutions.

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