Skip Abstract Section
Abstract
Inner source software development is the practice of using open source practices for firm-internal software development. Practitioner reports have shown that inner source can increase flexibility and reduce costs. Despite the potential benefits of inner source, there has been little research on its impact on businesses and their processes. To address this gap, we conducted a systematic literature review that identified which business processes are affected by inner source development, particularly within the accounting and management domain. Our review revealed the need for new dedicated community building processes within companies. In addition, we examined computational tools and techniques that can be used to measure inner source development. We found that existing tools and techniques are insufficiently suitable to manage inner source processes. Based on this, we propose research topics for future work on quantifying inner source.
- [1] . 2021. State of InnerSource 2021. Retrieved July 12, 2023 from https://innersourcecommons.org/learn/research/state-of-innersource-survey-2021/Google Scholar
- [2] . 2023. Community. Retrieved March 21, 2023 from https://innersourcecommons.org/community/Google Scholar
- [3] . 2008. An example of using key performance indicators for software development process efficiency evaluation. R&D Center Ericsson Nikola Tesla 6 (2008), 1–6.Google Scholar
- [4] . 2014. An approach to non-invasive cost accounting. In Proceedings of the 2014 40th EUROMICRO Conference on Software Engineering and Advanced Applications. IEEE, 30–37.
DOI: Google ScholarDigital Library
- [5] . 2013. The cost of production under direct costing and absorption costing—a comparative approach. Annals—Economy Series 2 (2013), 123–129.Google Scholar
- [6] . 2010. Linking software development and business strategy through measurement. Computer 43, 4 (2010), 57–65.
DOI: Google ScholarDigital Library - [7] . 2017. A systematic review on software cost estimation in agile software development. Journal of Engineering Science and Technology Review 10, 4 (2017), 51–64.
DOI: Google ScholarCross Ref
- [8] . 1984. Software engineering economics. IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering SE-10, 1 (1984), 4–21.
DOI: Google ScholarDigital Library - [9] . 2006. Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology 3, 2 (2006), 77–101.
DOI: Google ScholarCross Ref - [10] . 2022. Calculating the costs of inner source collaboration by computing the time worked. In Proceedings of the 55th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, HICSS’22. virtual.Google ScholarCross Ref
- [11] . 2020. Measuring Inner Source Collaboration. Ph. D. Dissertation. Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU).Google Scholar
- [12] . 2018. The patch-flow method for measuring inner source collaboration. In Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Mining Software Repositories (MSR’18). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, 515–525.
DOI: Google ScholarDigital Library - [13] . 2016. Inner source definition, benefits, and challenges. ACM Computing Surveys 49, 4, Article
67 (Dec. 2016), 36 pages.DOI: Google ScholarDigital Library - [14] . 2018. Examining the impact of adopting inner source software practices. In Proceedings of the 14th International Symposium on Open Collaboration (OpenSym’18). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, Article
6 , 7 pages.DOI: Google ScholarDigital Library - [15] . 2014. Optimal software reuse in incremental software development: A transfer pricing approach. Management Science 60, 3 (2014), 541–559.
DOI: Google ScholarDigital Library - [16] . 2009. Controlling and monitoring agile software development in three dutch product software companies. In Proceedings of the 2009 ICSE Workshop on Software Development Governance. IEEE, 29–35.
DOI: Google ScholarDigital Library - [17] . 2018. Adopting InnerSource: Principles and Case Studies. O’Reilly Media.Google Scholar
- [18] . 2022. Knights and gold stars: A tale of innersource incentivization. IEEE Software 39, 6 (2022), 88–98.
DOI: Google ScholarDigital Library - [19] . 2018. Borrowing open source practices at europace. In Proceedings of the Adopting InnerSource: Principles and Case Studies. and (Eds.), O’Reilly Media.Google Scholar
- [20] . 2021. GrimoireLab: A toolset for software development analytics. PeerJ Computer Science 7 (
July 2021), e601.DOI: Google ScholarCross Ref - [21] . 2014. Software product management. IEEE Software 31, 3 (2014), 21–24.
DOI: Google ScholarCross Ref - [22] . 2008. Managing risks in global software engineering: Principles and practices. In Proceedings of the 2008 IEEE International Conference on Global Software Engineering. IEEE, 131–140.
DOI: Google ScholarDigital Library - [23] . 2020. Inner source software development: Current thinking and an agenda for future research. Journal of Systems and Software 163 (
05 2020), 110520.DOI: Google ScholarCross Ref - [24] . 2000. A framework analysis of the open source software development paradigm. In Proceedings of the 21st International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS’00). Association for Information Systems, 58–69.Google Scholar
- [25] . 1992. Cross-functional structures: A review and integration of matrix organization and project management. Journal of Management 18, 2 (1992), 267–294.
DOI: Google ScholarCross Ref - [26] . 1996. Analysis Patterns: Reusable Object Models (Addison-Wesley Series in Object-Oriented Software Engineerin). Addison-Wesley Longman, Amsterdam.Google Scholar
- [27] . 2021. The convergence of struggles! Reusability assessment of inner-source components for product lines. INSIGHT 24, 1 (2021), 30–34.
DOI: Google ScholarCross Ref - [28] . 2019. Functional organization of software groups considered harmful. In Proceedings of the 2019 IEEE/ACM International Conference on Software and System Processes (ICSSP). IEEE, 120–124.
DOI: Google ScholarDigital Library - [29] . 2008. Measuring developer contribution from software repository data. In Proceedings of the 2008 International Working Conference on Mining Software Repositories (MSR’08). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, 129–132.
DOI: Google ScholarDigital Library - [30] . 2018. Living in a BIOSphere at robert bosch. In Adopting InnerSource: Principles and Case Studies. and (Eds.). O’Reilly Media.Google Scholar
- [31] . 2022. Management accounting concepts for inner source software engineering. In Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing (2022-11-08/2022-11-11), , , , and (Eds.), Vol. 463 LNBIP. Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 101–116.
DOI: Google ScholarCross Ref - [32] . 2000. The project-based organisation: An ideal form for managing complex products and systems? Research Policy 29, 7 (2000), 871–893.
DOI: Google ScholarCross Ref - [33] . 2011. A method for evaluating rigor and industrial relevance of technology evaluations. Empirical Software Engineering 16, 3 (
June 2011), 365–395.DOI: Google ScholarDigital Library - [34] . 2004. Software project management practices: Failure versus success. CrossTalk: The Journal of Defense Software Engineering 17, 10 (2004), 5–9.Google Scholar
- [35] . 2010. Model-based dynamic cost estimation and tracking method for agile software development. In Proceedings of the 2010 IEEE/ACIS 9th International Conference on Computer and Information Science. IEEE, 743–748.
DOI: Google ScholarDigital Library - [36] . 2020. Data mining approach to effort modeling on agile software projects. Informatica 44, 2 (
06 2020), 231--239.DOI: Google ScholarCross Ref - [37] . 2004. Procedures for performing systematic reviews. Keele, UK, Keele University 33, 2004 (2004), 1–26.Google Scholar
- [38] . 2017. Evaluative infrastructures: Accounting for platform organization. Accounting, Organizations and Society 60 (2017), 79–95.
DOI: Google ScholarCross Ref - [39] . 2004. Project risk management: Lessons learned from software development environment. Technovation 24, 11 (2004), 915–920.
DOI: Google ScholarCross Ref - [40] . 2020. Platform teams: An organizational structure for continuous delivery. In Proceedings of the IEEE/ACM 42nd International Conference on Software Engineering Workshops (ICSEW’20). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, 505–511.
DOI: Google ScholarDigital Library - [41] . 1985. Naturalistic Inquiry. Sage.Google ScholarCross Ref
- [42] . 2005. Agile software development in large organizations. Computer 37 (
01 2005), 26–34.DOI: Google ScholarDigital Library - [43] . 2016. Transfer pricing challenges in the cloud. Boston College Law Review 57, 2 (2016), 643–693. Retrieved from https://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/bclr/vol57/iss2/6Google Scholar
- [44] . 1982. The REA accounting model: A generalized framework for accounting systems in a shared data environment. The Accounting Review 57, 3 (1982), 554–578. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/246878Google Scholar
- [45] . 2011. Exploring inner source as a form of intraorganisational open innovation. In 19th European Conference on Information Systems, ECIS 2011, Helsinki, Finland, June 9–11, 2011. , , and (Eds.). 151. Retrieved from http://aisel.aisnet.org/ecis2011/151Google Scholar
- [46] . 2021. Share and share alike: How inner source can help create new digital platforms. California Management Review 64, 1 (2021), 90–112.
DOI: Google ScholarCross Ref - [47] . 2021. Duration estimation models for open source software projects. International Journal of Information Technology and Computer Science 13, 1 (
02 2021), 1–17.DOI: Google ScholarCross Ref - [48] . 2019. Transfer Pricing in Inner Source Software Development. Master’s thesis. Hochschule des Bundes für öffentliche Verwaltung, Bruhl, Germany.Google Scholar
- [49] . 2015. Aligning Transfer Pricing Outcomes with Value Creation, Actions 8-10-2015 Final Reports. OECD. 192 pages.
DOI: Google ScholarCross Ref - [50] . 2017. OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and Tax Administrations 2017. OECD. 608 pages.
DOI: Google ScholarCross Ref - [51] . 2017. International taxation in the digital economy : challenge accepted? World Tax Journal: WTJ 9, 1 (2017), 3–46. Retrieved from https://madoc.bib.uni-mannheim.de/41867/Google Scholar
- [52] . 2007. The Open Source Definition. Retrieved November 03, 2021 from https://opensource.org/osdGoogle Scholar
- [53] . 2017. International transfer pricing in multinational enterprises. Journal of Accounting Education 39, C (2017), 55–67. Retrieved from https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:joaced:v:39:y:2017:i:c:p:55-67Google ScholarCross Ref
- [54] . 2017. Software effort estimation based on open source projects: Case study of Github. Information and Software Technology 92 (2017), 145–157.
DOI: Google ScholarCross Ref - [55] . 2016. Inner source in platform-based product engineering. IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering 42, 12 (
12 2016), 1162–1177.DOI: Google ScholarDigital Library - [56] . 2014. Estimating development effort in free/open source software projects by mining software repositories: A case study of OpenStack. In Proceedings of the 11th Working Conference on Mining Software Repositories (MSR 2014). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, 222–231.
DOI: Google ScholarDigital Library - [57] . 2004. A risk management framework for software engineering practice. In Proceedings of the 2004 Australian Software Engineering Conference. IEEE, 60–67.
DOI: Google ScholarCross Ref - [58] . 2014. Key factors for adopting inner source. ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology 23, 2, Article
18 (April 2014), 35 pages.DOI: Google ScholarDigital Library - [59] . 2011. A comparative study of challenges in integrating Open Source Software and Inner Source Software. Information and Software Technology 53, 12 (2011), 1319–1336.
DOI: Google ScholarDigital Library - [60] . 2015. Inner source–adopting open source development practices in organizations: A tutorial. IEEE Software 32, 4 (2015), 60–67.
DOI: Google ScholarDigital Library - [61] . 2021. Company overview: Price® Systems. Retrieved December 15, 2021 from https://www.pricesystems.com/about-us/Google Scholar
- [62] . 2009. Evaluating and Improving Costing in Organizations. International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). Retrieved from https://www.ifac.org/knowledge-gateway/preparing-future-ready-professionals/publications/evaluating-and-improving-costing-organizationsGoogle Scholar
- [63] . 2014. United Nations Practical Manual on Transfer Pricing for Developing Countries. United Nations. Retrieved from https://www.un-ilibrary.org/content/books/9789210561372Google Scholar
- [64] . 2014. Effort estimation in agile software development. In Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Predictive Models in Software Engineering. ACM, 82–91.
DOI: Google ScholarDigital Library - [65] . 2005. Australian software development: What software project management practices lead to success? In Proceedings of the 2005 Australian Software Engineering Conference. IEEE, 70–77.
DOI: Google ScholarDigital Library - [66] . 2019. Integrating development and operations in cross-functional teams—toward a devops competency model. In Proceedings of the 2019 on Computers and People Research Conference (SIGMIS-CPR’19). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, 14–19.
DOI: Google ScholarDigital Library - [67] . 2016. Maintenance effort estimation for open source software: A systematic literature review. In Proceedings of the 2016 IEEE International Conference on Software Maintenance and Evolution (ICSME). IEEE, 32–43.
DOI: Google ScholarCross Ref - [68] . 2017. Software teams and their knowledge networks in large-scale software development. Information and Software Technology 86 (2017), 71–86.
DOI: Google ScholarDigital Library
Index Terms
- The Business Impact of Inner Source and How to Quantify It
Recommendations
Inner Source Definition, Benefits, and Challenges
Inner Source (IS) is the use of open source software development practices and the establishment of an open source-like culture within organizations. The organization may still develop proprietary software but internally opens up its development. A ...
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 ...
What motivates software practitioners to contribute to inner source?
ESEC/FSE 2022: Proceedings of the 30th ACM Joint European Software Engineering Conference and Symposium on the Foundations of Software EngineeringSoftware development organizations have adopted open source development practices to support or augment their software development processes, a phenomenon referred to as inner source. Given the rapid adoption of inner source, we wonder what motivates ...
Comments