Open Source as an Element of Corporate Strategy: A Case Study at Samsung

OPEN SOURCE AS AN ELEMENT OF

CORPORATE STRATEGY

Shawn BriscoeDirector Strategic Services

@black_duck_sw

Guy MartinSenior Strategist @SamsungOSG

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FRAMEWORK FOR OPEN SOURCE INTERACTIONS

Flexible Framework for:• Organizational/team-specific

needs• Evolving adoption/use of OSS• Interrelated focus areas

Four (4) Focus Areas:• Strategy & Governance• Consume• Collaborate• Create

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OPEN SOURCE IS A STRATEGIC ASSET

30%

80%

Average*Best in class

*Source: IDC 2012

+

SOURCE

the future of

OPEN2014

5

2014 SURVEY COLLABORATORS

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FACTORS FOR ENTERPRISE ADOPTION OF OSS

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FACTORS FOR ENTERPRISE PARTICIPATION IN OPEN SOURCE COMMUNITIES

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ELEMENTS OF AN ENTERPRISE OPEN SOURCE STRATEGY

Product

Governance

Open Source Strategy

Culture Community

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PRODUCT STRATEGY

Building OSS

Your Product

or Service

Open Source Your

Productor Service

Building for OSS

Open Source

Building with OSS

Your Product

or Service

Open Source

Building on OSS

Open Source

YourBusiness

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OPEN SOURCE GOVERNANCE

Systematically streamline, safeguard, and manage open source throughout your software development value chain.

Choose Approve InventorySecure Audit Deliver

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MITIGATE SECURITY RISKS

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CORPORATE CULTURE

CollaborationTransparencyMeritocracy

ContributionGovernanceOrganizational

KnowledgeReuseMetrics

INNER SOURCE

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COMMUNITY STRATEGY

Operational Efficiency

TechnologyInfluence

Talent Identification

Stewardship

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CASE STUDY

Samsung Open Source Group

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Prolification + Contributions

SAMSUNG OPEN SOURCE TIMELINE

Exploring PossibilitiesUsing embedded Linux in select products

AdoptionAdoption of Linux and Open Source SW as a viable alternative

TizenMajorContribution

2012200820052002

Open Source GroupCreated in SRA-SV + Open Source Office in SRUK

2013

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Open Source

Leadership

SAMSUNG OSG MISSION

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WHY?

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HOW?

Strategy Components

Grow OpenSource

Competence

Thought Leadership

External &Internal Visibility

UpstreamContributions

Educate/MentorProduct

Teams

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RESULTS TO DATE (2014)

• Contributions• 25 dedicated OSS developers (16 maintainers)

• Linux Kernel, Multimedia, Graphics, Web, Virtualization

• > 6300 upstream contributions• 2/3 bug fixes, remaining split between

enhancements/new features

• 98% contribution acceptance rate• 15% of contributions driven by business units

• Thought Leadership/Visibility• > 60 conference presentations/papers• 13 media mentions (including WSJ, Linux.com, etc.)

• 35 product developers graduated from OSS Leadership Program

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Lessons Learned Along the Road….

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RULE #1

No two communities are exactly the same!

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RULE #2

Communities don’t work for individual companies

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UNDERSTAND COMMUNITY GOVERNANCE

• Each community is different• Contributions need to ‘fit’ with other

code/patches

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UNDERSTAND COMMUNITY MOTIVATORS

• Successful communities are powered by motivated people

• Motivation can be: status, money, peer recognition

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BE CAREFUL OF ‘CUSTOM’ LICENSES

• Communities do not work well with ‘custom licenses’

• Gaining contributors/momentum requires low barriers to entry

http://opensource.org/licenses/index.html

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COMMUNITIES NEED NURTURING

• Posting code to public sites is not collaboration• Community participation is a cycle – expect

change

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BE HUMBLE, BUT BOLD

• Community leadership is earned, not granted• Accept community feedback and rework code

• Bring technical expertise to the table• Contributions need to be ongoing to maintain leadership status

Humble Bold

Leadership != ControlAccounting != Leadership

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THANK YOU!