Introduction
Information and communication technology (popularly known as ICT) is perhaps one of the most dynamics fields in the society today. New developments and new innovations are taking place on a daily basis in this field, and what may be high technology may be obsolete tomorrow.
Free/Libre Open Source Software (herein referred to as FLOSS) is considered as a fairly recent major development in this area, according to Chengalur-Smith, Nevo & Demertzoglou (2010). According to these scholars, FLOSS- based innovations have publicized their source codes, and these source codes are availed freely to end users. Also, the users are able to modify the source codes, apart from accessing them freely.
For the time they have been around, FLOSS based technologies have been conceptualized as a revolutionary development in this industry. Today, this technology has become a force to reckon with as far as open source developments in various realms are concerned.
Governments, academic institutions and business organizations all over the world have embraced FLOSS based technologies, which is currently competing with other commercial software on equal basis.
This paper is going to critically review an article addressing this topic. The article is titled An empirical analysis of the business value of open source infrastructure technologies, and it is authored by Chengalur-Smith et al (2010). The article was published in the Journal of the Association for Information Systems volume 11, special issue edition, on November 2010.
It is a 22 pages long article, and it is to be found on pages 708 to 729. In this critical review, several aspects of the article will be addressed. This includes the purpose and hypothesis of the study reported in the article, the type and design of the study, the conclusions made by the researchers, the effectiveness of the presentation of the data, and the value of the study or its practical application.
The limitations of the study and the opinion of this author regarding this study will also be included in this critical review.
Purpose and Hypotheses of the Study
The purpose of the study reported in this article was to analyze the business value of open source infrastructure technologies. This is given the fact that business organizations, governments and other institutions have continued to explore FLOSS based technologies which serve as alternatives to commercial version of the technology.
However, despite this fact, there is a lack of empirical data on the business value of such innovations, and this study set out to address this gap.
The researchers set out to test three hypotheses formulated at the onset of the study. The first hypothesis stated that the business value of FLOSS based technologies increased with increase in the absorptive capacity of the IT staff for an open source infrastructure technology (Chengalur-Smith et al, 2010; p. 712).
The second hypothesis was divided into two parts. The first part stated that the extent of utilization of the focal FLOSS based technology increased with a rise in the degree of source of openness of an entity’s information technology infrastructure.
The second part of this hypothesis stated that an increase in the extent of utilization of FLOSS technologies leads to an increase in the business value that accrues from the technology. The third hypothesis stated that business value accrued from this technology increased with the strengthening of the ties with the open source community of practice.
Study Design
This study was non-experimental, as it is noted that there is a lack of experiment or control groups. It is a mixture of a quantitative and a qualitative study. The researchers took the open source database MySQL as the case study.
Questionnaires were sent to 3,000 members who were using this database, giving this study a quantitative touch. The qualitative aspect of the study is to be found in the descriptions used and the review of literature that is found in this field.
Conclusions of the Study
As already indicated, the researchers were interested in testing the three hypotheses identified above. The analysis of data supported hypothesis one, where a link was found between the IT staff absorptive capacity for the innovation and the business value accrued from the same by the organization.
Hypothesis two was also supported by data collected, where a link was established between the source openness of the information technology infrastructure, extent of utilization and the value accrued from the technology.
Likewise, hypothesis three was also supported by the data, where a link was found between the information technology staff’s ties to the technology’s end user and developer community and the business value that the organization accrued from the technology (Chengalur-Smith et al, 2010).
Effectiveness of Data Presentation and the Value of the Study
The researchers used a combination of tools such as tables and diagrams to present the results of this study. The use of the structural model to present the connection between the FLOSS based technology and the 3 hypotheses was particularly helpful, given that it provides the reader with a detailed and vivid connection between the various variables of the study.
Such a visual presentation makes it easier for the reader to make sense out of the statistics presented.
The explanations given by the researchers are clear and understandable to the reader. This is especially made possible by the deliberate efforts made by the researchers to tie together all the three hypotheses, in turn tying them to the FLOSS based technology.
The significance of the findings of this study cannot be downplayed. It is to be noted that there is little literature that is found in this field, despite the fact that it is an emerging field that is widely used by businesses and governments around the world. As such, this study is significance as it expands the knowledge base in this field, giving it a practical application.
Integrity and Credibility of the Study
This study is highly credible, in the opinion of this author. The integrity of the study is also beyond reproach. This is especially so given the fact that the three authors are forces to reckon with in the academic field as far as information technology is concerned. They are all affiliated to reputable institutions of higher learning. The researchers are also honest, as they find it important to make it known the limitations of the study.
Conclusion: Limitations of the Study
As indicated above, the study has several limitations, and the researchers have acknowledged them towards the end of the article. For example, the study was limited in the fact that it only used key informants who directly implement and manage the FLOSS based technologies in the organizations selected. It fails to incorporate other parties such as developers and end users.
The researchers also acknowledge that the study may be of little value to FLOSS based technology producers, given that it focused only on organizations that have already implemented MySQL only. But all in all, this is a great study despite the various limitations.
References
Chengalur-Smith, I., Nevo, S., & Demertzoglou, P. (2010). An empirical analysis of the business value of open source infrastructure technologies. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 11(11/12): 708-729.