Bringing Open Source Best Practices into Corporations using a Software Forge

A software forge is a tools platform for collaborative software development, similar to integrated CASE environ- ments. Unlike CASE tools, however, software forges have been designed for the software development practices of the open source community. In this paper, we discuss our experiences with using a software forge to bring open source best practices into corporations. We present the design principles and benefits of a firm-internal software forge, and we present a case study of how one project inside SAP benefitted significantly from being on the forge. Categories and Subject Descriptors: D.2 Software Engineering, D.2.6 Programming Environments, D.2.9 Man- agement, H.5 Information Interfaces and Presentations, H.1.2 User/Machine Systems, H.5.3 Group and Organiza- tion Interfaces, K.6 Management of Computing and Information Systems, K.6.1 Project and People Management, K.6.3 Software Management.