The Open Learning Centre

29th July 2009. FRAMINGHAM, Mass. - (Business Wire) A recent IDC study reveals that worldwide revenue from open source software (OSS) will grow at a 22.4% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) to reach $8.1 billion by 2013.

According to a press release on EarthTimes, "This forecast is considerably higher than 2008 for three reasons: (1) the bottom-up list used to calculate the revenue has expanded through an exhaustive effort to include more projects in this forecast; (2) open source software has had a much higher level of acceptance over the past 12 months than previously expected, and; (3) the economy accelerated the uptake and use of open source software in the closing months of 2008."

The release goes on to say: "The open source software market has seen a strong boost from the current economic crisis," said Michael Fauscette, group vice president, Software Business Solutions. "OSS is increasingly a part of the enterprise software strategy of leading businesses and is seeing mainstream adoption at a strong pace. As the overall software industry continues to consolidate, it will be key for OSS vendors to reach scale if they plan to continue as a standalone business."

Further details here and from IDC.