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Identifing suitable Open Source solutions

At the point of project design there often already exists a good general sense of the underlying need or problem, but the range of possible solutions needs to be better understood. This checklist seeks to guide this process and help determine whether or not an (existing) open source solution is suitable for the project. Many of the questions are open-ended, and while it is not necessary to answer all of them in order to proceed, this analysis will lay the groundwork for the subsequent creation of clear Terms of Reference (ToR) and successful project implementation.

Checklist

1. Are the needs of the user(s) well understood?

  1. Is there a precise definition of the problem?
  2. Who is the client and who are the different user groups?
  3. What are (the) current user workflows?
  4. How high is the digital literacy of the users?
  5. What data is needed to answer the user need? Is it already available? If not, how can it be obtained?
  6. What is the current stage of the solution identification process? Does a requirements list for a potential solution already exist? Do the client or the users maybe already have solution in mind?

2. Is the existing IT environment and policies well understood?

  1. Is there already a digital architecture in place that a solution should integrate with? If so, how close does this integration need to be?
  2. Is there an existing tool in the existing architecture that can easily be upgraded/ extended to address this need?
  3. Who will host and maintain the solution after the end of the project?
  4. What is the existing tech stack of the client and the users? What are existing standards that are being followed?
  5. Is there are an overarching IT strategy that can guide the choice of solution (e.g. cloud vs on-premise)? What are the usual decision making processes like? Who needs to be involved? Are there other departments and institutions that we can align with or learn from? Are other departments facing similar challenges? How and by whom are projects implemented there?

3. Are the capacities of the client/partner well understood?

  1. How high are the digital capacities of the future host? Is there an internal IT department that is familiar with open source technologies? How were previous IT projects implemented? As a thumb rule, open source solutions often focus on functionality and require sufficient technical skills for configuration, maintenance and integration.
  2. What is the level of digital skills at the host organisation? Are there any gaps that need to be addressed?
  3. What (financial and human) resources are available during the project (project management, development / deployment, training,...) and after the project (hosting / maintenance / continuous development / continued training)?

4. Are digital options well understood?

  1. Based on the problem definition, what software (open and closed) is used to address similar needs? How are these usually provided?
  2. Are there off-the-shelf, fully-serviced tools (open source or proprietary) that can cover all or part of the needs? How are they priced?
  3. What is the landscape of IT companies to provide support in development, hosting, maintenance? Are there local options?
  4. What is the level of maturity and sustainability of the open source software options (whether a specific solution is well developed and maintained: redhat and tinycloud)?
  5. What are options to integrate into the broader solution environment in this field? Are there data or software standards, that ensure interoperability?