Business Success with Open Source

Corporate Contribution Metrics

As you determine what data to collect and track about your outbound FOSS initiatives, don’t forget what you learned in ​Be Clear About Your Goals​: always keep the goals of the initiatives front and center. If the metrics you track don’t align with what you’re trying to accomplish with the initiatives, you’re not only tracking the wrong things but also wasting a lot of time and effort.

Here are some example goals and a selection of associated metrics:

Influence direction of the project	Number of contributors from your organization Number of core contributors from your organization
Support project sustainability	Number of overall contributors to the project Number of organizations contributing to the project ...