Leveraging Open Source Licenses and Open Source Communities in Hybrid Commercial Open Source Business Models

The general research idea behind this work is that a framework can be created to describe commercial open source business models as combinations of different criteria. Goal of this paper is to find and describe the criteria by answering the question how software vendors leverage open source software and open source communities as well as multiproduct and multilicense strategies in commercial open source business models. We start with showing how open source software is used to create business models for software vendors, how this creates value for the vendors as well as customers and that the corresponding business models are hybrid business models. Based on literature and own research, an overview of commercial use of open source is presented, which is followed by a definition and classification of open source business models. This classification can be used by CEOs and business developers to create new business models. The paper closes with showing the value of these business models for software vendors and customers and a summary.