CIO Constituent Group Survey on Open Source
Online survey conducted September 4 - October 19, 2004: 235 respondents.
Contact Scott E. Siddall (siddall@denison.edu)
1. What is your institution's outlook on the following?
 Strongly agreeAgreeNeutralDisagreeStrongly disagree
We are actively tracking open source application development projects
(Sakai, ePortfolio, uPortal, etc.).		46
23.71%
100.0%
23.71%		83
42.78%
100.0%
42.78%		33
17.01%
100.0%
17.01%		25
12.89%
100.0%
12.89%		7
3.61%
100.0%
3.61%
We have set a clear IT strategy regarding the use or non-use of open source application software.12
6.28%
100.0%
6.28%		39
20.42%
100.0%
20.42%		70
36.65%
100.0%
36.65%		55
28.8%
100.0%
28.8%		15
7.85%
100.0%
7.85%
Total responses: 197
* Sequence of numbers in a cell:
  Count
Column percent
Row percent
Total percent
2. What is your opinion?
 Strongly agreeAgreeNeutralDisagreeStrongly disagree
Interoperability and open standards are more important than free and open source licensing models44
22.56%
100.0%
22.56%		109
55.9%
100.0%
55.9%		27
13.85%
100.0%
13.85%		13
6.67%
100.0%
6.67%		2
1.03%
100.0%
1.03%
It is important that higher education create open source applications to meet our unique needs33
17.19%
100.0%
17.19%		76
39.58%
100.0%
39.58%		53
27.6%
100.0%
27.6%		26
13.54%
100.0%
13.54%		4
2.08%
100.0%
2.08%
Total responses: 196
3. Does your institution make any use of open source applications?
OptionCountPercent
1. Yes15778.11%
2. No4019.9%
3. Don't know for sure41.99%
Total201100%
Total responses:  201








4. Please identify one or more reasons why your institution does NOT make use of open source applications. This question was presented only to those respondents who said "no" or "don't know" to the previous question.

Free text responses (selected)

The cost and difficulty of developing and maintaining large, complex application systems is daunting and perceived to be unpractical.
Uncertainty of support and lack of expertise
we feel that it is critical to have a vendor supported system that would keep their software current with technology and funds a significant amount toward R&D. We also want a strong support group and maintenace contract.
We have a very small I.T. staff
We are still in the investigation stage.
We are focussing on more productive engagement with our major vendors, and adopting applications across our university sytem for economies of scale.
Due to our small staff size and FTE limitations, it is easier for us to get dollars to pay a vendor for a system and maintenance than to hire staff to work on one ourselves.
Current immature state of open source. No funding to switch from current path.
not (yet) convinced that it would be cheaper
We did in the past and found it too expensive to maintain. We are considering Sakai
Core applications not available in open source
We haven't reached critical mass yet to meet the support obligations of Open Source. That said, we think we are close on course management and ERP financials.
We are a small college and do not have the development staff to support open source.
Supportability, interoperability, lack of tools
Standardization and support
The staff has very limited knowledge regarding open source.
We don't see the quality, dependability or accountability required before we would consider them.
Department standards and application systems are based on Microsoft products.
lack of long term viability. lack of contractual commitments. lack of long term roadmap. legal concerns.















5. Please characterize your institution's involvement with open source applications (check all that apply):
OptionCount
1. Use open source applications in the academic enterprise (course management, portfolios, collaboration, etc)80
2. Have distributed our homegrown applications under an open source license37
3. Use open source software for mission critical applications (academic or administrative)95
4. Institutional employees contribute to open source projects on their own time42
5. Experimental uses of open source exist outside of computer science/engineering research79
6. Use open source applications and provide design feedback to the developers67
7. Contribute resources (human or capital) toward the development of relevant open source applications49
8. Don't know4
9. Other12
Total465
Total responses:  156


































6. To your knowledge, your institution relies on open source software for (check all that apply):
OptionCount
1. servers, databases, infrastructure (Apache, MySQL, etc)138
2. desktop operating systems (Linux, FreeBSD, etc)104
3. administrative applications32
4. desktop applications (OpenOffice, StarOffice, etc)36
5. web applications (curricular, collaborative, etc)78
6. none of the above6
7. other12
Total406
Total responses:  156

7. One last question - what is your institution's Carnegie Classification?
(For the definitions, see http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/Classification/CIHE2000/defNotes/Definitions.htm)
OptionCountPercent
1. Doctoral/Research Universities—Extensive3317.19%
2. Doctoral/Research Universities—Intensive2915.1%
3. Master's Colleges and Universities I3618.75%
4. Master's Colleges and Universities II2010.42%
5. Baccalaureate Colleges—Liberal Arts3819.79%
6. Baccalaureate Colleges—General63.13%
7. Baccalaureate/Associate's Colleges31.56%
8. Associate's Colleges157.81%
9. Specialized Institutions126.25%
Total192100%
Total responses:  192