The report uncovers challenges related to open source support and big data management: organisations using EOL software were almost three times more likely to have failed a compliance audit last year and 47% of organisations that handle big data expressed low confidence in the administration of those technologies.
Data technologies continue to be a priority investment – a trend tied to the demand for AI tools that train on large datasets – and the State of Open Source Report shows that their complexity presents issues for many organisations. More than 75% of respondents said personnel experience and proficiency or lack of personnel was their biggest challenge in working with open source databases and data technologies like PostgreSQL, Hadoop, and Kafka. When asked on a scale of one to five to rank their confidence in their big data management, nearly half (47%) entered a score between zero and two, suggesting low confidence.
"Many organisations know what data they are looking for and how they want to process it but lack the in-house expertise to manage the platform itself," said Matthew Weier O'Phinney, Principal Product Manager at Perforce OpenLogic. "This leads to some moving to commercial big data solutions, but those that can't afford that option may be forced to rely on less-experienced engineers. In which case, issues with data privacy, inability to scale, and cost overruns could materialise."
EOL software popular with large enterprises, but comes with real-world risks
- EOL operating system, CentOS Linux, showed surprisingly high usage, with 40% of large enterprises still using it in production. While CentOS usage declined in Europe and North America in the past year, it is still the third most used Linux distribution overall (behind Ubuntu and Debian), and the top distribution in Asia
- For teams deploying EOL CentOS, 83% cited security and compliance as their biggest concern around their deployments
- Only 14% overall failed a compliance audit; however, that number nearly triples among those using EOL software (CentOS, AngularJS, or both)
Cost savings drive open source usage, but people, skills, and ongoing support hinder growth
- Cost savings continues to be the biggest driver for open source adoption and recently spiked from 37% in 2024 to 53% in 2025
- Over half of all respondents say lack of people, skills, and support hinders open source usage: 57% cite not enough personnel; 54% cite lack of skills, experience, and proficiency; and almost 52% lack of high-level, real-time support
- To overcome skill shortages, organisations have a plan – half (49.52%) are addressing this with training. Almost a third (30.95%) hire external contractors and consultants, while just over a quarter partner with a third-party vendor (25.24%) to address this challenge.
"Open source is the engine driving innovation in big data, AI, and beyond – but adoption alone isn't enough," said Gael Blondelle, Chief Membership Officer of the Eclipse Foundation. "To unlock its full potential, organisations need to invest in their people, establish the right processes, and actively contribute to the long-term sustainability and growth of the technologies they depend on."
Open source contributions coming from smaller organisations
- The largest companies with 5,000 employees or more are the most likely to have open source program offices (OSPOs) and generate software bills of materials (SBOMs).
- The smallest organisations with 20 or fewer employees are leading when it comes to contributions to open source projects and foundations.
"The State of Open Source Report demonstrates that big enterprises are not necessarily more mature when it comes to their open source strategy," said Stefano Maffulli, Executive Director of the Open Source Initiative (OSI). "It is encouraging to see that even very small organisations are committed to not just consuming open source, but giving back to the community by contributing code and supporting OSS foundations."
Resources
Sign up for The 2025 State of Open Source Webinar on 30th April to hear key insights about the report and what it means for organisations using mission-critical OSS in their infrastructure. The webinar will feature a panel discussion with Matthew Weier O'Phinney (Principal Product Manager, Perforce OpenLogic), Stefano Maffulli (Executive Director, Open Source Initiative), and Gaël Blondelle (Chief Membership Officer, Eclipse Foundation)
