ITAA To Governments: Not So Fast, You, With The Linux

In fact, this summer the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) challenged a recommendation that California state agencies implement open-source software solutions "where feasible." The recommendation came from The California Performance Review, released this year, which contains numerous recommendations for streamlining California's operations.

According to the ITAA, moving state systems over to Linux as a matter of policy would place unacceptable government mandates on the technology marketplace. The ITAA also released a white paper on open-source software that lays out guidelines for government software purchases. These maintain that:

• The value of intellectual property should be determined by a competitive marketplace without undue regulatory interference.
• Software should be procured based on merits and its ability to provide the "best value" to the customer, not on its license or development-model category. Such procurement decisions should be made on a technology-neutral basis.
• Open-source and proprietary software are legitimate software categories providing increased choices for all customers.
• Government-sponsored research should not be about supporting a particular business model, but instead should seek results that can be further developed and commercialized by the broadest possible community of software developers, regardless of their business models.

Additionally, the ITAA said it encourages a best-value analysis, including consideration of TCO, when acquiring a software solution. The ITAA supports global open standards and their voluntary, consensus-based, industry-led development and adoption. But open standards must be made available in ways that reflect their value. The report also states that, other than in its role as a customer in the marketplace for its own systems, government should not set standards. Solution providers say the ultimate TCO of Linux should be calculated by government agencies the same way any other business does, and that open source can have hidden costs in certain implementations.

"Linux can be support-intensive, so it can create a burdensome situation if the people in your organization have limited experience with it," says Ray Shah, president of GBD Group, a systems integrator in Ronkonkoma, N.Y. "But that makes our role more critical than ever because we're bridging the gap between Linux and other technologies."