Open source software has been an issue of discussion across the enterprise, and the technology industry more broadly, but it remains a contentious topic. For advocates, it remains the optimal way to develop and deploy systems and software, while sceptics continue to raise their voices to highlight possible shortcomings in the model. The reality, however, is that on many levels, open source software is a pervasive force in the technology industry, from the phones that we use every day, to the operating systems that power many of the world’s datacentres and the systems used to develop software and the components of the software itself.

Riedwaan Bassadien, Azure Open Source sales and marketing lead at Microsoft South Africa, comments that in reality, open source is pervasive, irrespective of the size of the organisation.