Measuring OSPO Value

Open Source Program Offices (OSPOs) play important roles within organizations, but that role isn’t always appreciated or understood within the executive team or by other stakeholders. In the current financial climate, some OSPOs have been the targets of cutbacks and layoffs, so this is a particularly important time for OSPOs to be clear about the value that they provide to their organization. Leaders within every organization are responsible for making sure that their organization focuses on the activities that have the biggest impact on helping that organization achieve their goals. As a result, OSPOs need to be able to demonstrate that the value of their work can have a larger impact on the organization than the other initiatives that are also competing for resources. As the CHAOSS OSPO Metrics Working Group co-chair and CHAOSS board member, the topic of measuring OSPO value is one that I have cared deeply about for years, and I recently gave a talk on this topic at the Open Source Summit North America in May. This is why I was so excited to read Ibrahim Haddad’s latest report, Measuring OSPO Value: A Framework for ROI, Resilience, Risk Foresight, and Strategic Influence , and share a few highlights from the report in this blog post.