Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of this study was to examine the key considerations of community, scalability, supportability, security, and functionality for selecting open-source software in California universities as perceived by technology leaders. Methods. After a review of the cogent literature, the key conceptual framework categories were identified as community, scalability, supportability, security, and functionality. To identify the key strategies, university technology leaders responded to a series of questions using the dynamic narrative approach, which allows for individual as well as group participation. The participants were the top executives in California universities. Validity was established through an expert panel of researchers, and data analysis included interrater reliability. Findings. The study identified key considerations in open-source software procurement as perceived by technology leaders for each category outlined in the conceptual framework: community, scalability, supportability, security, and functionality. The research resulted in 15 overarching key considerations: 3 for community, 3 for scalability, 3 for supportability, 3 for security, and 3 for functionality. Conclusions. The results of the study indicate the importance of the key considerations in open-source software procurement. These key considerations represent an overarching approach that technology leaders can apply when making software procurement decisions. The study revealed that it is important for technology leaders to collaborate with university stakeholders to foster trust. Higher levels of trust between technology leaders and university stakeholders promote increased time and focus by technology leaders on more strategic goals and objectives. Recommendations. Technology leaders can increase successful software procurement practices by implementing key strategies identified herein. Further research could examine characteristics of additional considerations that technology leaders could apply to ensure that they are able to address and anticipate both the stakeholder and larger organizational needs. The findings in this study offer technology leaders key strategies in software procurement.