A Model for Total Cost Determination in Open-Source Software Ownership: Case of Kenyan Universities’ Learning Management System

Abstract

The adoption of open-source products is slowly increasing; the increase, however, is slower than expected, considering that most open-source products are freely available. Researchers and scholars have attributed the adoption levels to, among other things, a lack of know-how of the total cost of ownership of the open-source software. Thus, it is crucial for the cost of owning the software to be developed. While an ongoing endeavor to develop a model to determine the total cost of ownership of open-source software, the models have proved to be less accurate and do not capture essential elements. Moreover, there has been a rising call for organizations to adopt open-source software to lower the software costs incurred on proprietary software. If the cost of owning open-source software were known, it would be beneficial as several organizations and institutions could adopt it readily. The data was collected from Universities in Kiambu and Embu Counties. Linear regression analysis was done to help develop the model, and a mathematical model was developed. The proposed model was: total cost of open-source software ownership = direct + +indirect + hidden costs. To validate the model, it was subjected to expert validation. The model will be an outstanding contribution to information technology as it will make it possible to come up with the total cost of owning open-source software.