NTT’s Increased Focus on Open Source Software

2.1 Diversification of IT systems

Traditionally, IT systems have been used for the efficient management of business information such as received orders, receipts/disbursements, and inventory that inherently exists in a company’s business operations. This kind of legacy IT system is called a system of record (SoR). More recently, however, as reflected by smartphone applications, companies have started developing IT systems to maintain relations with consumers or keep track of shipped products. In contrast to SoR, this type of IT system is called a system of engagement (SoE). Companies are also showing a strong appetite for artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) applications. As described above, the role of IT systems is becoming increasingly diverse.

2.2 Virtualization of IT/NW infrastructure

A conventional IT and network (IT/NW) infrastructure^*1 requires time-consuming and error-prone manual operations for its configuration, which leads to the requirement of a long lead time, for example, a few weeks, even for small applications that can be developed in a week.

Today, however, virtualization and software-defined technologies have made it possible to use software to take over many of the configuration tasks. This approach has been aggressively pursued to shorten the application release cycle. Moreover, as part of this trend, many customers have started using infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) services on the Internet instead of owning and managing their own infrastructures.

2.3 OTT-driven evolution of IT/NW infrastructure

Traditionally, the evolution of the IT/NW infrastructure used to rely on dominant global product vendors. The reason for this is that there have been no system integrators (SIers) or network providers that have a market share comparable to that of global product vendors.

This state of affairs, however, has been overturned by the emergence of over the top (OTT)^*2 operators that are expanding their business operations on a huge scale surpassing that of global product vendors. To release services quickly and make operations more efficient, OTT operators are proactively deploying software-based operation of the IT/NW infrastructure using virtualization and software-defined technology, and by doing so, are becoming the dominant force in infrastructure evolution.

3.1 Application of OSS to SoE and AI/IoT systems

With the extremely rapid evolution of technologies in SoE and AI/IoT systems, it is essential to adopt the latest software and data-analysis technologies in developing these systems. Innovators in these technology fields are addressing such demands by proactively releasing software as OSS to gain users at an early stage, and as a result, system development using OSS has become mainstream.

3.2 Application of OSS to IT/NW infrastructure

Some OTT operators are actively forming open communities and sharing their software products as OSS, which would increase the number of organizations or people that support their technical ideas or architectures. Such OSS communities make opportunities for SIers and service providers^*3 to pursue the evolution of their IT/NW infrastructures without having to rely on dominant global product vendors. This trend suggests that OSS will become far more important for SIers and service providers to remain competitive in infrastructure operation.

4.1 Developing product integration capabilities

As described above, companies can no longer rely on platform products supplied from the upstream of the IT value chain. Instead, they must integrate small software modules into systems tailored to their requirements. This requires product development skills such as choosing appropriate modules from among many choices and designing an easy-to-modify architecture, in addition to traditional system integration skills. Since it is difficult for a company to maintain a large army of skilled software engineers, companies should also be adept at narrowing down requirements and deriving a just-in-time product roadmap with respect to the company’s service model and customer needs. Mastering agile software development practices is important in supporting a just-in-time product roadmap.

4.2 Building technical support capabilities to address the breadth of OSS

In the traditional platform-centric IT value chain, OSS that should be supported can be narrowed down to a small number of platform products. However, in the platform-less IT value chain, service providers or SIers rely on a variety of OSS products. Building a technical support capability to address the variety of OSS products is a new challenge.

4.3 Gaining trust in OSS communities

Typically, building a system with new OSS requires that more than a few bug patches be applied to the OSS. In addition, service providers or SIers sometimes come across the situation where functional extensions must be made to the OSS. However, getting such bug patches or functional extensions accepted by the maintainer^*6 of that OSS is not straightforward. Companies must first establish a presence that facilitates the acceptance of proposals. For this purpose, it is necessary to participate regularly in technology summits and contribute actively to OSS development and maintenance activities. Making such efforts on an ongoing basis also helps a company to become knowledgeable with the design philosophy of that OSS and to make proposals that are more likely to be accepted.

4.4 Creating a company’s unique value with OSS

The three types of activities above incur a significant cost, so companies would not be able to sustain those activities without having business strategies to leverage OSS and gain a rewarding return. One promising approach is to use OSS to develop unique products/services that leverage the company’s inherent strengths. Not only do such efforts help a company gain the return, they will also strengthen the company’s influence in OSS communities.