A methodology for managing FOSS migration projects

Abstract

Since 2005, the Free Software Center (CESOL) at the University of Information Science (UCI) in Havana, Cuba, has conducted several free and open source software (FOSS) migration projects for various organizations. The experience gained from these projects enabled the creation of a FOSS Migration Methodology which documented how the technical elements of a project of this kind should be executed. Despite the usefulness of this methodology, the projects that have been undertaken experienced difficulties that were, in most cases, directly related to their management. This research aims to improve the methodology and minimize management-related challenges thereby improving the quality of migration projects. The proposed methodology was applied in a project that ran in a higher education organization and the results prove that the methodology enhanced the quality of the migration project.