Pattern Idea: InnerSource Program Office

In our Slack this conversation happened:

Q: Is there a place where I can find a charter for an InnerSource program office?
A: The “charter for InnerSource Program Office” depends on the situation your company is in and where it wants to go — there are as many designs as there are members in the InnerSource Commons. Do you have an effort with top-level management support or more a grassroots movement? Are you trying to improve transparency, cross collaboration, communication, reuse, time to market, reduced defects, or something else? Do you have a picture of the current barriers and what capabilities need to be developed for your next low hanging fruits?

We have some patterns that either mention an InnerSource Program Office (ISPO), or are written from the perspective of an ISPO. Of particular interest could be the Explicit InnerSource Principles pattern that has a section on "Why does the organisation want to adopt InnerSource?".

However we don't have a pattern describing what an ISPO is, how to establish one, and what problems can be addressed through it.

We recognize that there may be different reasons for establishing an ISPO, as well as different charters that an ISPO may follow. However we think that it is possible to describe the main building blocks for establishing an ISPO in the form of a pattern.

Things that could support the creation of such a pattern

• list the patterns that mention an ISPO already (or similar concepts) => allows us to understand whether we even mean the same thing when talking about an ISPO in the existing patterns
• review content from the TODO Group on how to create an OSPO. That might be similar to the creation of an ISPO.

Start by reviewing the Explicit InnerSource Principles pattern and the TODO Group OSPO guides linked in the issue. Inventory existing patterns that mention an ISPO or similar concept, then use that research to define the pattern’s main building blocks. Done means a pattern explains what an ISPO is, how to establish one, and which problems it can address.