Migrating to open source is a big move for any organisation and there are possible pitfalls that face its implementation. But, if a focus is placed on standards before software per se, it is easier to avoid the potential problems that can be met from doing open source incorrectly.
Open standards ensure an environment is geared for integration and can be centrally managed using standards-compliant tools.
The South African government's drive to adopt open source technologies has been set in policy and is currently being implemented throughout agencies and departments nationwide. The adoption of open source by government bodies is a positive step in terms of citizen access and has the potential to bolster service delivery and drive flexibility into government bodies.
But, the way in which open source is implemented is key to its success, and of more pressing concern should be a drive towards the increased use of open standards. Government would also benefit from focusing on internal systems first and migrating desktops to open source as a secondary imperative.
Open standards are far more important in terms of modernising government's infrastructure and providing a platform for effective solutions in terms of service delivery.
Vendor lock-in
The adoption of open source should be a long-term focus and the more immediate approach should be on open standards. With these in place, open source will follow as a natural progression because open source technologies are best at incorporating open standards.
Many of the problems government currently faces in terms of its technology stacks are as a result of the lack of open standards. These legacy systems are not easily replaced in a phased manner since they are not standards-compliant and can therefore not easily integrate with newer technologies.
Without open standards in place, it is also easy to become trapped into vendor lock-in.
Government has, therefore, been reliant on dealing with the same vendors who originally supplied its technology investments and is now challenged in its move to open source. Without open standards, new trends in technology, such as the move from silo-based systems, for example, are difficult to follow and one is left with data residing in old systems and no easy way to get it out.
Government would also benefit from focusing on internal systems first and migrating desktops to open source as a secondary imperative.
Muggie van Staden is MD of Obsidian Systems.
Government bodies are therefore starting to realise that putting open standards in place should be a priority going forward, and that in doing so it is able to future-proof them. They have made this clear with the adoption of open document format.
When new challenges arrive or the time comes for systems to be replaced, government will then be able to deal with these situations without making major changes to its entire infrastructure, instead being able to focus on specific systems. The new reality created by the use of open standards drives agility and flexibility.
Of course, the same is true for private sector businesses that can learn much from observing the challenges currently facing government.
With standards paving the way for open source adoption, government can then look at replacing software and, as a result, hardware where needs be. But, care must be taken in terms of this too.
Government's focus is currently on periphery systems in terms of the move to open source. Specifically, government bodies have focused on user desktops and workstations that are being migrated to Linux and the use of open source applications.
Inward focus
Government should really focus primarily on internal systems first and foremost. These systems are where the move to open standards begins and can be migrated with less disruption to delivery than if desktop systems are prioritised.
If servers are running proprietary software without open standards, then end-user systems are challenged in the migration to open source. Instead, servers should be migrated to open source first, as open source client software is available across operating system platforms and open source server software is more compatible with a wider range of clients.
Once internal systems are migrated, only then should desktop systems follow suit. Open standards-based systems will be able to integrate with proprietary applications. But, the reverse of that statement is seldom ever true.
Open standards are the key to interoperability, future-proofing, agility and flexibility. They must be a priority in any serious open source implementation. If this is the focus of government, along with a priority in terms of internal systems, then its migration should be a success.
* Muggie van Staden is MD of Obsidian Systems.
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