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Open Source Software Selection Using an Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP)

Received: 23 September 2014     Accepted: 9 December 2014     Published: 18 December 2014
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Abstract

There are many potential and good open source software (OSS) products available on the market with a free license. However, with various choices, the adoption rate is still low among potential users because there is not an agreed acceptable set of criteria to evaluate and select various OSS. The criteria of selection may differ between the stakeholders within the organisations. There is a tendency that the user may have a biased perception of an OSS’s characteristics or capabilities for solving problems when selecting OSS products. Other restrictions are caused by inadequate documentation and user manuals, and immature products. Therefore, the users need to consider how to improve their decision making when selecting the most suitable OSS products. In this paper, the background research on the proposed OSS adoption and criteria of selection are discussed and explored. Then the research methodology, processes and implementation of the My Open Source Software Toolkit (MyOSST) v1.0 are covered. The analytical hierarchy process (AHP) was applied on the selection process and for the purpose of assisting the potential user to decide on the OSS products based on their preferred selection criteria. MyOSST v1.0 was tested and validated by IT professionals in one of the Malaysian universities. The results show that the tool is capable of assisting the decision making process for selecting an appropriate OSS product.

Published in American Journal of Software Engineering and Applications (Volume 3, Issue 6)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajsea.20140306.13
Page(s) 83-89
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2014. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Open Source Software Selection, Selection Criteria, Analytical Hierarchy Process

References
[1] OSS Adoption Statistics. 2010. Malaysian Public Sector Open Source Software Programme. OSCC MAMPU. http://www.oscc.org.my/content/view/227/139/. Accessed on Jan 8, 2012.
[2] Malaysian Administrative Modernization and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU). 2011. The Malaysian Government Interoperability Framework for Open Source Software (MyGIFOSS). http://www.oscc.org.my//content/view/185/245/. Accessed on Dec 25, 2011.
[3] Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU). 2011. Malaysian Public Sector Open Source Software (OSS) Initiative, Open Source Software (OSS) Implementation Guidelines. http://www.oscc.org.my/content/view/186/244/. Accessed on Dec 26, 2011.
[4] Khadijah Chamili, Yusmadi Yah Jusoh, Jamaiah H. Yahaya, Noraini Che Pa. 2012. Selection Criteria for Open Source Software Adoption in Malaysia. Asian Transaction on Basic and Applied Sciences. 2 (2). ISSN: 2221-4291. On-line Journal.
[5] Khadijah Chamili, Yusmadi Yah Jusoh, Jamaiah H. Yahaya, Noraini Che Pa. 2012. The Selection Criteria for Open Source Software Adoption in Malaysia. International Journal of Advancement in Computing Technology (IJACT). In press.
[6] W. H. Delone, E. R. McLean. 2003. The DeLone and McLean Model of Information Systems Success: A Ten Year Update. Journal of Management Information Systems. Springer. 19 (4): 9–30.
[7] N. Ahmad. 2011. A Systematic Approach to Evaluating Open Source Software. International Journal of Strategic Information Technology and Applications. 2 (1): 48-67. Doi: 10.4018/jsita.2011010104.
[8] J. Confino, P. Laplante. 2010. An Open Source Software Evaluation Model. International Journal of Strategic Information Technology and Applica¬tions. IGI Global. 1 (1): 60–77.
[9] E. Glynn, B. Fitzgerald, C. Exton. 2005. Commercial adoption of open source software: An empirical study. International symposium on Empirical Engineering. pp. 225-234.
[10] D. Spinellis, V. Giannikas. 2012. Organizational adoption of open source software. Journal of Systems and Software. 85 (3): 666-682.
[11] R. Uzma, M. J. Tretter. 2012. Defining and evaluating a measure of open source project survivability. IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering. 38 (1).
[12] ISO/IEC 25010:2011 Systems and software engineering- systems and software quality requirement and evaluation (SquaRE) – system and software quality models.
[13] T. L. Saaty. 1980. The Analytical Hierarchy Process. New York: McGraw Hill.
[14] T. L. Saaty. 1986. Axiomatic Foundation of the Analytical Hierarchy Process. Management Science. 32(7): 841-855.
[15] M. A. Azadeh, S. N. Shirkouhi. 2009. Evaluating simulation software using fuzzy analytical hierarchy process. In Proceedings of SpringSim, 2009.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Yusmadi Yah Jusoh, Khadijah Chamili, Noraini Che Pa, Jamaiah H. Yahaya. (2014). Open Source Software Selection Using an Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). American Journal of Software Engineering and Applications, 3(6), 83-89. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajsea.20140306.13

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    ACS Style

    Yusmadi Yah Jusoh; Khadijah Chamili; Noraini Che Pa; Jamaiah H. Yahaya. Open Source Software Selection Using an Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). Am. J. Softw. Eng. Appl. 2014, 3(6), 83-89. doi: 10.11648/j.ajsea.20140306.13

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    AMA Style

    Yusmadi Yah Jusoh, Khadijah Chamili, Noraini Che Pa, Jamaiah H. Yahaya. Open Source Software Selection Using an Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). Am J Softw Eng Appl. 2014;3(6):83-89. doi: 10.11648/j.ajsea.20140306.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajsea.20140306.13,
      author = {Yusmadi Yah Jusoh and Khadijah Chamili and Noraini Che Pa and Jamaiah H. Yahaya},
      title = {Open Source Software Selection Using an Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP)},
      journal = {American Journal of Software Engineering and Applications},
      volume = {3},
      number = {6},
      pages = {83-89},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajsea.20140306.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajsea.20140306.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajsea.20140306.13},
      abstract = {There are many potential and good open source software (OSS) products available on the market with a free license. However, with various choices, the adoption rate is still low among potential users because there is not an agreed acceptable set of criteria to evaluate and select various OSS. The criteria of selection may differ between the stakeholders within the organisations. There is a tendency that the user may have a biased perception of an OSS’s characteristics or capabilities for solving problems when selecting OSS products. Other restrictions are caused by inadequate documentation and user manuals, and immature products. Therefore, the users need to consider how to improve their decision making when selecting the most suitable OSS products. In this paper, the background research on the proposed OSS adoption and criteria of selection are discussed and explored. Then the research methodology, processes and implementation of the My Open Source Software Toolkit (MyOSST) v1.0 are covered. The analytical hierarchy process (AHP) was applied on the selection process and for the purpose of assisting the potential user to decide on the OSS products based on their preferred selection criteria. MyOSST v1.0 was tested and validated by IT professionals in one of the Malaysian universities. The results show that the tool is capable of assisting the decision making process for selecting an appropriate OSS product.},
     year = {2014}
    }
    

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    T1  - Open Source Software Selection Using an Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP)
    AU  - Yusmadi Yah Jusoh
    AU  - Khadijah Chamili
    AU  - Noraini Che Pa
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    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajsea.20140306.13
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajsea.20140306.13
    T2  - American Journal of Software Engineering and Applications
    JF  - American Journal of Software Engineering and Applications
    JO  - American Journal of Software Engineering and Applications
    SP  - 83
    EP  - 89
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2327-249X
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajsea.20140306.13
    AB  - There are many potential and good open source software (OSS) products available on the market with a free license. However, with various choices, the adoption rate is still low among potential users because there is not an agreed acceptable set of criteria to evaluate and select various OSS. The criteria of selection may differ between the stakeholders within the organisations. There is a tendency that the user may have a biased perception of an OSS’s characteristics or capabilities for solving problems when selecting OSS products. Other restrictions are caused by inadequate documentation and user manuals, and immature products. Therefore, the users need to consider how to improve their decision making when selecting the most suitable OSS products. In this paper, the background research on the proposed OSS adoption and criteria of selection are discussed and explored. Then the research methodology, processes and implementation of the My Open Source Software Toolkit (MyOSST) v1.0 are covered. The analytical hierarchy process (AHP) was applied on the selection process and for the purpose of assisting the potential user to decide on the OSS products based on their preferred selection criteria. MyOSST v1.0 was tested and validated by IT professionals in one of the Malaysian universities. The results show that the tool is capable of assisting the decision making process for selecting an appropriate OSS product.
    VL  - 3
    IS  - 6
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Dept. of Software Engineering and Information Systems, Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

  • Centre of Information Technology, USIM, Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia

  • Dept. of Software Engineering and Information Systems, Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

  • School of Computer Science, Faculty of Information Science and Technology, National University of Malaysia (UKM), Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

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