Open Source Drives Software Innovation

July 20, 2011

Open Source Drives Software Innovation

The 2011 Future of Open Source Survey revealed insights into the future of open source software. Findings include its impact as a driver in SaaS, Cloud and Big Data solutions. Analysis of the data also reveals a new set of value propositions as well as a warning of a potential trap.

By Michael J. Skok, North Bridge Venture Partners

Open Source has now moved beyond the tipping point it reached last year in the private sector and now is mainstream in businesses of all sizes and even in mission-critical applications. In fact Open Source is clearly playing a central role in the cloud and mobile segments and has become a driver of innovative solutions in new spaces like Big Data.

According to our survey (455 respondents, 40 percent of whom were vendors), people think the number-one impact on vendors will be Software as a Service (SaaS), which has a profound impact on revenue sources and business models.

I see Open Source continuing to be a driver in the build-up of the software stacks that enable SaaS and Cloud-based solutions. SaaS and Cloud together and Open Source will thus become synonymous with each other.

Survey participants identified Mobile as the sector that will be most disrupted by Open Source over the next five years.

To me, what’s most exciting at a macro level is to see that Open Source is shifting from commoditization to innovation. For example, take the Big Data space.

The Disruptive Force of the Cloud in the Channel

Channel partners are looking at the changes cloud services are creating, and the more sophisticated ones see an opportunity to become even more important in the value chain to the end customer. Riding on the cloud, many channel partners are morphing into full-fledged MSPs. Glenn Gow of Crimson Consulting explains the impact of this phenomenon on software vendors.

Making a Successful Software Licensing & Entitlement Management Project a Reality

Victor Hoisington of Flexera Software discusses the challenge of dealing with both product management and IT groups when upgrading your software licensing and entitlement system. It’s not an easy task, given that both groups have different motivations and also disagree on what’s needed. Read his advice in this post to the Sandhill.com blog, Software Monetization Best Practices.

Read Software Equity Group's July monthly report on M&A activity in the software industry during the month of June.

Cloud Hosting Reaches an Inflection Point

Kamesh Pemmaraju discusses what’s driving the trend of traditional server-based hosting models evolving into self-service-based cloud models in this post to the Sandhill.com blog, Leaders in the Cloud.

Poll: Open Source Impacts

Which of the following best describes your company’s most recent experience with open source developments?
Take our Pulse Poll >>

The Latest Software Business News on SandHill.com

News Summary: Heads in the Clouds – Crittercism attracts, StratosLive rolls, Kootol threatens, Europe selects the best, and other recent software news.

VC Activity: CloudFlare gets $20M to make the web safe — and fast.

M&A Deals: Software AG Acquires Terracotta for Cloud, BPM.

Executive Moves: New executives announced at BeyondTrust, Heroku, Jamcracker, Juniper Networks and other software companies.

Quote of the Week

“Most of [the Microsoft reseller] partners are thinking about the transition for most companies is going to be three to five years, moving what they’ve got to the cloud. These new guys are coming in and saying, 'You know what? I’m going to be specialized and this is all I’m going to do and I think I’m going to have a competitive advantage.' ”

- Jon Roskill, corporate vice president for partners at Microsoft

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