Open Source: Digitization Needs Open Standards

More and more companies are relying on open standards and are consequently switching from proprietary software to open source. Experts explain why this is the right way.

Standards enable interoperability and thus simplify day-to-day IT work. However, many are more or less proprietary and are controlled by individual organizations or manufacturers who can limit their use as they wish. Fewer and fewer companies want to expose themselves to this sword of Damocles: Especially in times of high digitalization pressure, IT flexibility is a success-critical factor. Open standards therefore play a central role for them. As an open source company, ownCloud relies on open standards itself and knows the advantages that result from this.

The Guaranteed Availability

Open standards are available to all market participants with absolutely no fees or charges. Proprietary technologies that have reached de facto standard status and can hardly be ignored are subject to licensing, and the manufacturer can, at least in theory, decide whether or under what (legal or technical) conditions to grant licenses.

The Unrestricted Interoperability

With open standards, there is no longer a vendor lock-in, because all systems or software solutions based on them are fully compatible with each other and indefinitely. Software vendors can rest assured that their solutions will work seamlessly with products from other vendors. Companies secure their digital freedom through open standards – which consists, for example, in being able to exchange software components without any problems.

Developer Freedom

Manufacturers can prohibit the extension of their proprietary standards or refuse to certify them. This can mean a one-way street for developers – but not so with open standards that do not prohibit extension. This gives developers complete freedom and flexibility when designing their systems.

Open source and open standards are particularly important for the challenges of digital transformation. Customers with growing requirements, increasing globalization and ever-tighter competition demand new products, great innovative strength and optimized processes and smooth workflows. In this environment, companies cannot afford IT that is subject to restrictions.

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