How Much Open Source Are You Using?

Open source software might make it simpler for employees to download and install an application without first having to check that it meets with the company’s approval and governance policy. But that freedom also means that application usage in the enterprise can become something of an untamed, unregulated Wild West.

Fortunately, there’s a new sheriff in town. A new software as a service (SaaS) offering from open source software purveyor OpenLogic is taking aim at the freewheeling usage of open source in the workplace with OpenLogic Exchange (OLEX) Enterprise Edition — a solution that provides businesses with an approval and governance model for adoption.

“Enterprise are using more open source and they don’t really have control of how it’s being used. They want to be able to manage and control it,” Kim Weins, senior vice president of marketing at OpenLogic told InternetNews.com. “OLEX Enterprise delivers the ability to provide access to developers so they’re not shutting it [Open Source] down, but rather are using open source in a safe way. The enterprise will know that the software is certified, there is an audit trail, there is an approval process and they can implement policies.”

OpenLogic is an open source stack vendor that provides certified open source solutions and support for a collection of over 300 projects. OLEX is the company’s freely available library of supported projects. Launched in September, OLEX including a basic level of governance information such as licensing information and best practices.

Its new OLEX Enterprise offering extends the service with an open source approval system and more robust governance and auditing capabilities, all delivered via a SaaS model.

“It includes audit reports, an open source approval system, allows for developers and technical staff to request approval for usage of open source within their organization and has workflow to manage and track the approval process,” Weins said.

According to Weins, the OLEX Enterprise solution is not intended to be competitive against open source licensing identification software solutions from Black Duck and Palamida. Rather, Weins argued that OLEX Enterprise is complementary.

“Black Duck is focused on scanning for code to associate licenses with source code,” Weins said. “What we’re focused on is actually getting enterprises to uptake open source, putting in place all of the services and controls and management tools that are needed.”

OpenLogic also said the release of OLEX Enterprise is not a one-off proposition. Weins said the company plans to add more governance capabilities, more policy auditing and additional gradual controls for approvals as well as user permissions.

“This quarter, we’re releasing the first version and we will be expecting next set of capabilities in January/February,” she said. “We will be updating this platform every couple of months. It’s not a specific number scheme for the releases; it’s just tied to date of delivery.”