Attitudes towards the uptake of open source software by small and medium enterprises in the Western Cape, South Africa

This paper focuses on the uptake of open source software in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Western Cape. SMEs aim to become more efficient and competitive, but often experience challenges. Open Source Software (OSS) is considered to yield key benefits for SMEs because it is free to access, distribute and customise, peer-reviewed for reliability. However, certain drawbacks can hinder SMEs from adopting OSS such as uncertain support, need for technical skill for usage, incomplete functionality to mention a few. The broadband initiative in the Western Cape looked to enable the access of OSS online through the provision of broadband internet for organisations including SMEs. This research was aimed, through a qualitative analysis, mainly at examining the attitude of S MEs toward OSS by analysing the benefits as well as the drawbacks of using OSS. The research also analysed the effect of the broadband initiative on the attitude of SMEs toward OSS uptake. Additionally, the roles that intermediaries undertake in OSS communities for promoting the uptake of OSS in SMEs, which were investigated were decentralised school, bridging school, arterial school, communities of practice and ecosystems school. These intermediary roles were analysed to find out which role would be most significant for facilitating OSS uptake.