While nobody can dispute the raw functionality inherent in today's open source community software, reticence often exists due to the lack of a project's business appeal.
The open source developing community's predominant focus is on creating software that solves technical issues - and solves them well, and this leaves little time for business pursuits.
For open source developers, the beauty in a piece of software lies largely in its functionality and how elegant the programming code behind that functionality is structured.
For them, a solution doesn't need to look elegant, have enterprise support - it was in all likelihood designed to serve a purpose and to do so effectively. And providing it achieves on that purpose, the software has met its goal.
Priceless
Enterprise software vendors are, for this reason, extremely valuable to the open source community, since they add elements to open source offerings that come from the development coalface, and in doing so, make these solutions viable and digestible to the enterprise.
This point of view is perfectly illustrated in the fact that open source solutions such as Alfresco ECM, Compiere ERP, JBoss Enterprise Application Platform, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Zimbra Collaboration Suite, to name a few, have begun gaining strong traction in the enterprise.
Each of those solutions is backed, sponsored, or has in some way, mean or form gotten the support of a larger enterprise IT-focused organisation or company with experience, and in some cases, current projects in the proprietary software environment.
If open source solutions are going to compete head-on with other enterprise solutions, they will have to look just as polished as their proprietary counterparts and come with the same benefits.
Muggie van Staden is MD of Obsidian Systems.
The involvement of these larger software companies that are more experienced when it comes to selling an overall solution to a business is a critical success factor in the future of open source software.
Because, let's face it, software needs to look polished, be capable of solving their exact business issue and have formal support and training resource available in order for a company to attribute a monetary value to it.
If open source solutions are going to compete head-on with other enterprise solutions, they will have to look just as polished as their proprietary counterparts and come with the same benefits - like training, support and the ability to fall back on a company with true commercial interests.
Looking at many of the projects out there today, it's clear the open source community needs the input, opinion and perspective of enterprise vendors that have their roots in the business software world.
The ecosystem
In addition to including the various points of value enterprises today require from a business solution, there's also a great deal to be said for the role enterprise software vendors need to play in the ecosystem, primarily in terms of attracting open source development resources towards solving business issues that so many companies face today.
More enterprise software vendors are warming to this concept and taking on this role with interest - after all, who wouldn't want access to the wealth of programming expertise the open source community today has at its disposal?
At the same time, the open source software community is beginning to realise how important a role these vendors play in the greater scheme of things.
Over the coming years, the evolution of this model will be interesting to observe.
Personally, I believe both camps stand to benefit a great deal from creating a truly symbiotic relationship - and that the timing is right.
* Muggie van Staden is MD of Obsidian Systems.
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