Open Source Company Policies

Description

Introduction by Jason Haislmaier [1]:

"An open source policy, like any company policy, should be tailored to the company. Certainly this means that the policy should be designed to work within and leverage the existing organization and structure of the company. It also means taking into account the business, competitive and regulatory environments in which the company operates. Perhaps more importantly, any open source policy should also be drafted to fit the unique culture of the company. If the company is one heavily oriented around policies and procedures, then the open source policy can follow suit and include greater levels of detail. However, if the corporate culture is not one to adopt and follow rigorous policies in other areas, the open source policy should not try to break this mold. The idea is to prepare a policy that fits the corporate culture in which it will be implemented — and this idea is often the key to the successful adoption of the policy.

Perhaps surprisingly, preparing a policy that fits the culture of your company is not inconsistent with the goal of having a complete and thorough policy." (http://thinkingopen.wordpress.com/2007/08/30/open-source-policies/)

More Information

See OpenLogic's Open Source Policy Builder at http://www.openlogic.com/resources/resources.php