Sharing Source Code with Clients: A Hybrid Business and Development Model

Open innovation and the recent emphasis on client involvement imply the emergence of hybrid software licensing models combining the limited openness of source code with traditional value appropriation logic. A practical hybrid licensing model responds to the needs of both business-to-business software vendors in vertical domains and consultancies that must maintain separate quasi-products. The central idea is that the vendor of commoditized products also licenses source code to select clients, who become participants in and subscribers to an ongoing closed development community. The tools and techniques are readily available from open source development, but the motivations and relationship management work differently than in a pure open source context.