customize a commercially available
platform; or take an approach called
open-source software development,
or OSSD.
24 The retooling option would
fail to address ongoing maintenance
and increasing platform complexity.
The proprietary option promised a
mature system with extensive features
and vendor support, but high costs
and limited flexibility were major
disadvantages. The OSSD approach
promised greater flexibility and cost
savings, but limited control over the
development process and indefinite
support were significant. How could
the university weigh the pros and cons
of these options? Should other approaches be considered?
Community Source
A new approach to enterprise application development has emerged,
applying the structures of collaborative development mechanism of open
source software.
1 The collaborative
community-based open source model blends aspects of corporate-style
software-development projects and
open-source individual cooperative
development. Investing institutions
shape goals, resource commitment,
and values through a project charter,
26
an approach called community-based
open source, or simply “community
source,” development.
Community source can be viewed
as a hybrid developmental model,
a virtual organization, consisting of P H O
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