Proposing novel measures to alleviate the risks of migration to open source software

Abstract

Nowadays, companies and organizations pay more attention to the use of open source software. In this regard, organizations can benefit from the advantages of this kind of software, such as less cost and more flexibility. However, migration to open source software has its own risks, such as training of employee, lack of compatibility, and support. Reviewing numerous papers found in the literature, this study aims to collect a complete list of risks that may influence the open source migration process as much as possible. It also provides a new categorization of the risks by which each risk is classified based on its type (organizational, technical, and environmental), and its time of occurrence (before, during, and after migration). Moreover, this paper proposes a number of conceivable measures to mitigate each risk; some of them are proposed for the first time in this area of research. The results of this study can help organizations' decision makers to make better decisions in the open source migration process.