UPDATE: The webinar is now available here.

We are pleased to present a new CAOS webinar next week on the cost and other benefits of open source software based on our research and analysis, including our survey of more than 1,700 open source software customers and end users. The report, Climate Change – User Perspectives on the Impact of Economic Conditions on Open Source Adoption, covers these user perceptions on the benefits of open source, both before and after adoption.

In our webinar on the topic — to be presented Tuesday, January 26 at 10am PST/1pm EST/6pm UK — we’ll go over our survey results, which indicate cost savings, flexibility and freedom from vendor lock-in are the biggest drivers for open source. We’ll also compare our recent results to a similar survey from 2006. Of course, we’ll offer some insight into our analysis of the survey and our conversations with vendors, investors, customers and others about what is driving open source.

With cost savings leading the way, the report also provides practical guidance on calculating the potential and real cost savings from open source software, including a calculator. The Webinar will similarly provide some insight into the calculation of cost savings and how such equations and analysis can be dramatically different for open source.

Those interested may register for the webinar here. If your software is not supported, please send an email request for slides and dial in for the audio portion of the webinar.