The Alfresco Open Source Barometer survey is the largest open source enterprise infrastructure/stack survey. The third global survey covers data provided by over 25,000 of Alfresco’s 74,000 community members during the period of April to September 2008.

The goal of this survey is to research how open source is used within the enterprise, as well as examine the growing impact of Enterprise 2.0 technologies and competitive systems such as Microsoft SharePoint. The survey shows respondents evaluating Alfresco’s open source Enterprise Content Management (ECM) software are using Windows, but rejecting .NET/Web parts and Silverlight, instead looking for an ECM solution based on a Java architecture and AJAX, with integrated Web 2.0 tools.

Key findings from the Alfresco Open Source Barometer survey include:

Microsoft Stack Adoption

92% do not use or intend to use Silverlight;
86% do not use or intend to use .NET/Web Parts;
64% evaluate on Windows;
53% use or intend to use a Java architecture; and,
52% use or intend to use AJAX.

Open Source ECM and Enterprise 2.0

In an open source ECM environment:

66% want a browser experience to access content which reflects a Web 2.0 experience;
The majority of users have no strong preference in their choice of blog or wiki. Logically the integrated blog or wiki will be used for ECM activities;
The majority of users have no strong preference for Business Process Management (BPM) or Business Intelligence (BI); and,
Where a preference is expressed, the open source market leader is chosen – for example: WordPress, MediaWiki or JBoss, and Business Objects for BI.

Open Source Infrastructure

The results for infrastructure usage are consistent with the previous Open Source Barometer surveys:

Red Hat and Ubuntu continue to lead in operating system usage;
User preference for evaluating on Windows and deploying on Linux is maintained; and,
In the category of Application Server, Tomcat continues to dominate at 67% and JBoss is in second place with 15%.

“One of the survey’s goals was to examine the impact of SharePoint on the open source ECM market. This survey drilled down further, examining specifically the Windows sub-set. The majority of open source users evaluate on Windows but 86% do not use .NET/Web Parts and 95% do not use Silverlight. The survey found that over 50% of respondents use a Java architecture and AJAX. One conclusion is Windows respondents are looking for an open source alternative to SharePoint and a Java architecture. This further demonstrates how organizations are increasingly using a mixed open source and proprietary environment.”
Dr Ian Howells, CMO, Alfresco Software Inc.

Alfresco’s Open Source Barometer asks respondents (who are either joining the Alfresco community or evaluating Alfresco software) their technology preferences in order to capture the latest information about how companies are evaluating and deploying open source and proprietary software stacks together in the enterprise. In addition to asking users about their preferences in operating systems, application servers and portals, the most recent survey includes new data on social collaboration tools such as wikis, blogs, as well as business process management, business intelligence, architecture and rich internet applications.

The Alfresco ECM suite sits on top of this stack and offers a unique insight into mixed stack usage in modern global 5000 organizations and government. Users surveyed provided unprecedented levels of detailed information on their software infrastructure, a reflection of the vibrancy of the Alfresco community. This information helps Alfresco to prioritize platform and stack combinations for the benefit of the larger community.

The community will be surveyed on a biannual basis to deliver updates to the open source barometer, with the aim of providing a leading indicator on enterprise open source adoption trends.

More Information:

Read regular barometer survey updates posted on Ian Howell's blog
View detailed survey results in Slideshare
Download the Open Source Barometer white paper
Visit the Alfresco Open Source Barometer page on Facebook
Join the Alfresco Content Community