During a recession, budgets get cut, and money is spent only for things that are absolutely necessary to a company’s survival. As a result, many projects get delayed, across the board, and IT projects are no exception. In fact, for the many companies that bought into Nicholas Carr’s view that IT doesn’t matter, IT budgets are among the first to be cut, which is the reason why the stocks of so many publicly-traded software companies are taking a plunge as I am writing these lines. Nevertheless, life must go on, even during the darkest hours of the mot brutal recession, and many projects still must be carried on, albeit with limited budgets. In such a context, using software licensed through the COSMO model might really help. Let me explain why.

The fundamental problem with the traditional software licensing model based on perpetual licenses is that it requires the acquisition of expensive licenses upfront, funded from a capital expenditure budget line. If the budget is not available, the project gets delayed until a new budget is allocated, which could take several months, quarters, or even years. Many traditional vendors provide free editions of their products for development purposes that could be used in the meantime, but most IT departments are reluctant to invest significant development resources on top of a product they might never be able to afford. And they should be.

The COSMO model addresses this challenge by providing a fully-functional edition of the product that can be used for both development and production purposes. Granted, it might not have all the features of the commercial edition, nor the support services that usually come with it, but in most cases, it provides plenty enough to get started.

So, when a recession hits, what are enterprise customers to do? First, they should reduce their investments on perpetually licensed software products. Second, they should look for commercially-supported Open Source alternatives based on the COSMO model, and start using their free editions. Third, they should use the little funds they have to train their staff on the product, so that they can develop applications and solutions on their own, instead of relying on expensive third-party consultants. Fourth, they should give any extra work they have to offshore consultants that have been trained to the product as well. Fifth, they should upgrade to the product’s commercial edition only when the project goes live and commercial support is absolutely required.

It used to be that you could not get fired for buying IBM. Tomorrow, the safest way to keep your job will be to use commercially-supported Open Source software whenever possible, and to think twice before paying a premium for perpetual software licenses. The world is changing, and your job is about to change as well. Be prepared!