Software Ecosystems Governance – An Analysis of SAP and GNOME Platforms

Software ecosystems play an important strategy in the IT industry. They involve the interaction of a set of actors on a common technological platform that results in a number of software solutions or services. Software ecosystems face intense competition and scrutiny of stakeholders and society as a whole. Therefore, they need to be aligned with principles of ethics, accountability and transparency. The governance of software ecosystems presents strategic procedures and processes to control, maintain, and evolve the platform. This article presents the application of a conceptual model for software ecosystem governance in the context of GNOME and SAP platforms. The case studies results suggest that governance of these platforms involve the need to manage software licenses, to define the type of collaboration in relation to governance (shared or closed), and to address social, technical and business risks in software ecosystems.