Half of European companies use Open Source business critical!

For the survey, Forrester interviewed nearly 500 "IT decision makers" by phone in both continents, about 10 percent of whom worked in the Netherlands. More than half of the European survey participants said they now use Open Source software for mission-critical applications. A majority of those who evaluated the potential of Open Source see sufficient business benefit in using this software to increase revenue or serve customers. Of those, 62 percent cited the ability to reduce operational costs with Open Source.

An equally large percentage find it attractive that the software itself is free. However, four out of five respondents consider benefits such as support for open standards, use of code without restrictions and avoidance of "vendor lock-in" more important. Three-quarters do worry about the availability of consulting, integration, support and other services. So there is great potential for expansion of Open Source now that it has proven its value to businesses. Also getting started with Open Source? Get in touch with us!