Open Source Software: A prerequisite for corporate agility, flexibility, open standards with lower costs

The Open Source Business Foundation (OSBF) awards a total of € 75,000 in prize money in the European Open Source Business Award (OSBA).

Three companies who use open source for their innovative deployment of Open Source Business Solutions.

The first place winner will be bestowed the title "Open Source CIO of the Year".

Three open source software companies for their innovative business concepts.

The first place winner will be bestowed the title "Open Source Company of the Year".

A company’s operations are influenced by its business processes and the software that supports them. Lean and adaptable business processes lower costs and quicken responsiveness. Only then can companies and entire economies face global competition and strengthen their position. Software solutions have since gained a central role in the flow of business processes and though this, significantly influence the success of a company.

The dependence of a company on its software often becomes apparent when upper management seek to adapt business processes to their needs, only to face long delays and excessive costs. This is much the same when companies merge and attempt to integrate.

IT structures and solutions which have evolved with a company are often inflexible and dependent on individuals and suppliers. They often do not adequately address a company’s need for agility, flexibility and cost efficiency to ultimately compete on the global playing field.

Open source software brings formal open standards, enabling the flexible integration or exchange of individual modules which support business needs better in the long run. Simultaneously, open source software development processes enable many companies to cooperatively define and develop standards which reduce software supplier dependence while increasing the competitiveness of individual enterprises.

The OSBF annually presents the Open Source Business Award in two categories:

Open Source Business Award - Business Solution for companies who apply open source software, and
Open Source Business Award - Technology for software vendors

The European Open Source Business Award recognizes exceptional companies who use open source software in innovative business solutions and software vendors with compelling business models. Companies are reviewed by an independent panel of experts who look for CIOs that support a significant amount of their business processes with open source, and software vendors which set new standards with their open source technologies.

Take this opportunity to have your open source business solution or model assessed by our experienced panel of open source professionals. The Open Source Business Award acknowledges European software vendors and commercial users who are setting the trends for open source. All while offering a unique platform for the exchange of knowledge and valuable networking.

1. Evaluation criteria and weighting

(a) Open Source Business Award– Technology – Open Source Business of the Year

Innovation and uniqueness (10%)
How innovative is the software? To what extent does it present an improvement on existing software capabilities to date? How unique is the software?

Creativity in implementation and design (15%)
Are ingenuity and imagination identifiable in software implementation? Are new approaches or methods apparent in the software? To what extent does originality and creativity feature in its design?

Functionality / user friendliness (5%)
Do the features sufficiently fulfill the task set out to achieve? How intuitive and compatible is the software to the target user?

Feasibility (time to market) and ROI of the implemented solution (15%)
How quickly could the business model be implemented? Are the go-to-market model, sales and marketing strategies compelling?

Market attractiveness – in the context of current best practices (15%)
What potential does the software vendor have to develop new markets on a national and international level, or expand existing ones?

Competitive advantage (10%)
What degree of differentiation does the company achieve through their software’s technical and/or business functionality, thereby improving their competiveness?

Quality of management (20%)
What potential does the company’s management display to successfully implement the business plan and lead a team?

Quality of the business plan (Identifiable success factors) (10%)
Is the software vendor’s business plan complete and convincing in relation to key success factors?

(b) Open Source Business Award – Business Solution – Open Source CIO of the Year

Case Study (10%)
Is a case study available in which the business solution is implemented?

Business processes (20%)
Is the task clearly defined? How has the solution improved the company’s business process?

Relevance to open source (20%)
Do open source components account for a signification portion of the business solution?

Transparency (20%)
How is the impact on business quantitatively assessed and communicated (eg. ROI)?

Broader applicability (20%)
Is there potential for this business solution to be applied to other companies and industries, and represent best practices?

Competitiveness (10%)
Does the solution demonstrate potential to improve company competitiveness?

2. Conditions of Participation

Who may participate?

Companies, federal and state institutions, Europe based business consortiums with open source business models or solutions under an OSI Lizence

Who must the documents be submitted to?

Documents must be submitted to the Open Source Business Foundation office with sender contact details.

OSBA- Technology nominees can download comprehensive manuals on business plan writing and financial planning spreadsheets. Documents referred to on this website serve as guides and were not designed for software vendors specifically.

For German language documents we recommend our partner netzwerk|nordbayern. For English language documents and sample plans, we recommend www.businessplans.org. The use of such materials is advocated, in facilitating smoother adjudication by the panel and participation of nominees.

Assistance in business plan writing can be obtained from local organizations which organize business plan competitions. For open source specific support, the Open Source Business Foundation and their Campus Coaches are available by contacting Richard Seibt.

3. Statement of Participation

For nominees under the OSBA- Technology who will present business plans, the statement of participation should be signed and submitted as early as possible. This allows the panel of judges and organizer to make contact with participants early and offer advice leading up to business plan submission and presentation. The statement of participation is available to download at the bottom of this web page, and should be submitted in an open document format.

Participation in the awards is final only upon organizer confirmation. The signed statement of participation in the OSBA consents the organizer to forward all received documents to the panel of judges and Heise Magazine Publishing.

A second signature on the statement of participation consents the immediate publication of information entailed, on www.heiseopen.de of Heise Magazine Publishing. The means and medium of publication will be freely determined by Heise Magazine Publishing. Four weeks after which, publishing on the OSBF website may follow.

Whether or not consent is given to the immediate publication on www.heiseopen.de, information in the statement of participation can be released on the OSBF website four weeks after submission close at the latest.

The statement of participation is also used for planning purposes and to confirm the winners of awards.

4. Business Coaching

The Open Source Business Foundation’s business coaching is available to all OSBA participants.

5. OSBA Panel of Judges

OSBF Campus Coaches

Open Source Meets Business Conference (www.osmb.de) program committee members include:

Mr. Schallbruch, CIO, Federal Agencies
Mr. Wellmann, CIO, Rossmann
Mr. Urban, CIO Berlin City Cleaning
Mr. Oliver Dietrich, Heise Open Editor in Chief, Heise Magazine Publishing
Mr. Andre von Raison, Senior Editor, iX, Heise Magazine Publishing
Mr. Heinrich Seeger, Senior Editor, Heise Magazine Publishing
Mr. Siekmann, CIO, RTL Shop
Mr. Ingo Schwarzer, CTO DB Systel

Sponsors of the Open Source Business Awards

6. Marketing Platform

The Open Source Business Awards celebrates new developments in the industry, making it an ideal marketing and networking platform for companies to meet potential investors, customers and users. Companies deploying open source also have the opportunity to evaluate and celebrate the work of their IT department.

Media Coverage

All software vendors and companies deploying open source have the option to have their business models and open source business solutions published on Heise Magazine Publishing’s www.heiseopen.de. Information released will be based on the signed statement of participation and per the abstract provided. Further information will be provided by Heise Magazine Publishing in due course, decided freely and without legal obligation towards participants. Four weeks after this information has been made public on www.heiseopen.de, the organizer may also publish the same information on the OSBF website. Participants may opt out of this second publicity opportunity.

Upon entering the OSBA, nominees give consent to their photo and names being published and announced in press and media should they be an award winner. All participants may use the unmodified OSBA logo in announcing their participation in their own promotional activities.

Membership to the Open Source Business Foundation

OSBA nominees are offered complimentary guest membership to the Open Source Business Foundation (OSBF) for a period of one year. This is only applicable to non-members and is effective upon confirmation of OSBA participation and receipt of a signed OSBF membership application form. Benefits of membership include access to OSBF Business Coaching among others.

8. Prize Money

Open Source Business Award - Technology:

1st Place: € 35,000

2nd Place: € 10,000

3rd Place: € 5,000

Open Source Business Award - Business Solution:

1st Place: € 15,000

2nd Place: € 6,000

3rd Place: € 4,000

Should the panel of judges deem any nominations not to warrant full prize money, award amounts may be lowered. Multiple prize winners of an individual award place are also possible.

9. Sponsorship

Companies interested in sponsoring the Open Source Business Award can download relevant information here.

10. Terms and Conditions

The OSBA is open to companies, consortia, governmental agencies and individuals with legal domicile in Europe and software, business solutions or services which wall under the OSI Licence.

Documents submitted by companies and governmental agencies must be signed by a legally authorized representative who can provide proof of authority to the Open Source Business Foundation upon request. Participation in the OSBA only recognized upon confirmation by the Open Source Business Foundation (OSBF). The OSBF reserves the right to refuse participation without explanation. Participants indemnify the organizer from any claims by third parties that result from copyright, trademark, trade secret or any other violations related to their submitted documents.

By signing the statement of participation, the nominee accepts all OSBA conditions of participation as binding and consent to the publication of their contributed information and abstract from the time of submission. Business plans submitted for the OSBA- Technology will not be made public in their entirety. Participants or legally authorized representatives consent to the electronic storage of their personal details for the purpose of the OSBA. All costs incurred by participation in the OSBA such as travel costs to the awards ceremony, are assumed by the participants. The panel of judges has complete freedom in their decisions and is not obliged to provide reasons. Decisions made by the panel are final. The organizer also reserves the right to make changes and award no prizes without legal appeal.

Confidentiality

Organizers, sponsors and the panel of judges are obliged to handle information given in relation to the Open Source Business Award confidentially, and only for the sole purpose of the organization of the OSBA. In particular these parties are obliged to deny third party access to such information, show or forward relevant confidential documents. Abstracts submitted by participants are not considered to be confidential.

This obligation does not apply to information that is or have become publicly known, for example information related to an award winner at the public awards ceremony, proven to be independently developed or lawfully obtained from third parties.

11. Organizer

Open Source Business Foundation e.V. (OSBF), Josephsplatz 8, Nuremberg, Germany 90403

13. Regional business competitions

Recommended business competitions for OSBA – Technology nominees

The Open Source Business Foundation works closely with regional business competitions and awards organizers throughout Europe. OSBA participants are encouraged to enter local competitions in their region, as these often provide support and training for young entrepreneurs alongside a chance to win. A list of recommended regional business competition organizers are below.

Saxony http://www.futuresax.de

Northern Bavaria http://netzwerk-nordbayern.de

Baden-Wuerttemberg http://www.cyberone.de

Hamburg http://www.hep-online.de

Munich http://www.mbpw.de

Dortmund http://www.start2grow.de

Rheinland http://www.n-u-k.de

Wolfsburg http://www.promotion.giz.de

Saarland - Rheinland-Pfalz http://www.123go-networking.org

North Hesse http://www.promotion-nordhessen.de

Bremen - Weser Ems http://www.promotion-weser-ems.de

Berlin-Brandenburg http://www.bpw.de