Economic impact of free and open source software: A study in India

Description

This study examines the use and impact of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) across twenty Indian organisations, including government departments, commercial enterprises and educational institutions. The findings indicate that all organisations use FOSS either as an operating system or as an application, with cost savings emerging as the primary motivation for adoption. Significant financial benefits were observed across sectors—for example, the IT@School project in Kerala saved approximately Rs 490 million by replacing proprietary software on 50,000 school desktops, while large organisations such as the Life Insurance Corporation and New India Assurance reported savings of Rs 420 million and Rs 800 million respectively. Medium-sized firms and non-profits also achieved notable cost reductions. The economic impact of FOSS is primarily driven by its role as a substitute for expensive proprietary desktop and server software, as well as by reducing the need for complementary products like antivirus systems. Overall, the study demonstrates that FOSS adoption leads to substantial cost efficiencies and provides an effective alternative to proprietary IT solutions, with projected savings expected to grow over time.

Publication Date

1-1-2009

Publisher

Indian Institute of Management Bangalore

Keywords

Open source software, FOSS

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS