If open source is the holy grail for telcos, more than a few of them are getting lost trying to uncover the treasure; but why?

At a panel session featuring STC and Vodafone at Light Reading’s Software Defined Operations and the Autonomous Network event, the operational culture was suggested a significant roadblock, as well as the threat of ROI due to shortened lifecycles and disappearing support.

Starting with the culture side, this is a simple one to explain. The current workforce has not been configured to work with an open source mentality. This is a different way of working, a notable shift away from the status quo of proprietary technologies. Sometimes the process of incorporating open source is an arduous task, where it can be difficult to see the benefits.

When a vendor puts a working product in front of you, as well as a framework for long-term support, it can be tempting to remain in the clutches of the vendor and the dreading lock-in situation. You can almost guarantee the code has been hardened and is scalable. It makes the concept of change seem unappealing Human nature will largely maintain the status quo, even is the alternative might be healthier in the long-run.

The second scary aspect of open source is the idea of ROI. The sheer breadth and depth of open source groups can be overwhelming at times, though open source is only as strong as the on-going support. If code is written, supported for a couple of months and then discarded in favour of something a bit more trendy, telcos will be fearful of investment due to the ROI being difficult to realise.

Open source is a trend which is being embraced on the surface, but we suspect there are still some stubborn employees who are more charmed by the status quo than the advantage of change.