01470nas a2200121   4500008004100000022001400041245002500055210002100080260004200101520115000143100001901293856003601312       2008                        eng d  a1913-610200aThe OpenTTT Approach0 aOpenTTT Approach  aOttawabTalent First Networkc03/20083 aThere is no shortage of data and results that demonstrate that open source software, when adopted with appropriate best practices, can significantly lower costs and provide quality IT (information technology) solutions, especially for small and medium enterprises. For example, the Consortium for Open Source Software in Public Administration project demonstrated that by using best practices for OSS procurement, not only was software acquisition cheaper, but the evaluation of tangible and intangible costs over 5 years demonstrated a cost reduction ranging from 20% to 60%. The EU study on the impact of OSS indicates that OSS can reduce software research and development costs by 36%, while the INES project found that companies adopting OSS increased profits and reduced time to market and development costs in 80% of the trials.

If OSS is so advantageous, why is so little use of it perceived in the marketplace, especially among SMEs? We present the preliminary results of an European project called OpenTTT to improve the adoption rate and study the effectiveness of best practices in OSS adoption within small and medium enterprises.1 aDaffara, Carlo  uhttp://timreview.ca/article/128