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enterprise

Customer win round-up (EnterpriseDB and Liferay)

In two separate pieces of news today, EnterpriseDB was selected by FTD to replace Oracle, and Liferay was selected to replace Novell's exteNd portal offering. Both demonstrate the continue value that open source provides (yes, even to EnterpriseDB).

Interestingly, both EnterpriseDB and Liferay have Apache-style licenses at their core. The difference, of course, is what they sell on top: for EnterpriseDB, they add some closed software; for Liferay, they add support. What's exactly the same is dramatic cost savings and improved performance by moving away from 100% proprietary offerings:

On EnterpriseDB's win with FTD, and over Oracle (improving system performance by 400% while dropping the cost by 83%)...… Read more

The value of candor (Andy Astor)

I spent an enjoyable morning with Andy Astor at a Bank of America Private Software Company Day (or something like that - Kirk Materne of BofA organized it and did a great job of moderating a panel on which Andy and I participated). As we talked before and during the panel, I came to understand and appreciate Andy's position on what constitutes an open source company. I'm still not sure I agree, but Andy has a good point....

EnterpriseDB initially dubbed itself an open source software company, and took some heat as a result. Andy's response? Clearly delineate the company's licensing policies.… Read more

CareGroup CIO votes for SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop

It's just one man's opinion, but I always like to hear what the end customer thinks about technology. While I'm not a big believer in the Linux desktop (at least, as a direct competitor to OS X and Windows in the US/EMEA enterprise market), I'm glad to see SUSE Linux Desktop pass the test with the CIO of CareGroup:

...Halamka found in SUSE a version of the Linux operating system that didn?t crash or lock up once during the month he used it; that booted quickly (within 30 seconds); that was easy enough to … Read more

Coming soon to The Open Road: the "Open Source @" Series

The Open Source CEO series is still going strong, and will continue through next week. In fact, I expect to have some high-profile surprises to add to the roster next week....

However, I wanted to put readers on the alert that soon after I'll be kick-starting the "Open Source @" series. I'm fond of giving grief to traditional enterprise software companies for failing to "get" open source. Well, starting next week I'll be giving an open forum to some of the world's largest software companies to share their open source activities with the … Read more

BEA to deliver Web 2.0 apps for business in July

BEA Systems in July will ship a series of corporate search and collaboration products designed around Web technologies.

The three products--Aqualogic Pages, Aqualogic Pathways, Aqualogic Ensemble--will initially be aimed primarily at customers of BEA's portal products but the company expects them to have broader appeal. Each will be sold individually, said Ajay Gandhi, director of emerging products at BEA's Business Interaction Division.

The infrastructure software company showed off early versions of the products at its customer conference last year and originally divulged plans for the product line back in 2005.

The common theme of the three products is … Read more

Microsoft's bloatware problem (and how open source could help)

Fake Steve takes a swipe at Microsoft's bloatware problem, and strikes true:

For years people have been begging Microsoft for leaner, simpler products with fewer features. Not just befuddled and baffled consumers but CIOs at big companies, guys who manage tens of thousands of PCs, who are considered "thought leaders," and who definitely have Microsoft's attention. They've been screaming this from the rooftops: Fewer features, greater ease of use, greater reliability. They've done everything but put up billboards on the roads around Redmond saying, "Small. Fast. Cheap. Easy." They don't want slightly fewer features. They want a lot fewer. Like 90% fewer. So what does Microsoft do? It rolls out a huge new OS and a new version of Office with a 10x gain in features. Then it hires an army of MBAs to go "unlock value" and get customers to use all those features that they've already told Microsoft they don't want.... Microsoft seems to have lost sight of the fact that its rise to power came as a result of Bill Gates positioning Windows as smaller, cheaper, easier and faster than OS/2 Presentation Manager. Windows 3.0 was lean and mean and, relatively speaking, open. OS/2 with PM was big, bloated, expensive, and all about locking you in to IBM. IBM was the big monolith trying to protect its market share and suck everything into its maw. Microsoft was the disrupter, using a little toy weapon to attack a fortress. Amen.

It's not simply Microsoft's problem, of course, but pretty much all of enterprise software's. Enterprise software has worked so hard to justify itself that it has lost sight of the normal customer's needs.… Read more

Making enterprise software more like the web

Yesterday was the second day of Alfresco's quarterly management meeting (and no, I don't like this one because there are no football matches during the summer, though I am going with Luis to see The Drowsy Chaperone tonight. During the meeting, we spent awhile talking through changes in enterprise software; or, rather, changes that should happen in enterprise software.

What's the biggest problem in enterprise software today? I mean, besides how expensive, complex, and clunky it is?

It doesn't work the way the world works.

What do I mean? I mean that despite the fact that, as John Donne might write, "no corporation is an island, entire unto itself," most enterprise software treats corporations (and their denizens) exactly as islands. Little pools of creativity who share within the walls of their own corporation, if at all (and generally not at all). … Read more

Photos: Dell's next-generation products

Dell is trying to turn things around since losing its lead as the world's No. 1 PC maker to Hewlett-Packard and reorganizing its leadership team. As a result, it's holding sessions with the media to show off what it says are its most innovative new products. One of them is pictured here: a super-thin display with speakers and microphone integrated right into the display itself. Dell says this could be the future of computer monitors. See more photos at this gallery.

Oracle-SAP lawsuit: more grist for the grind

Within the next four weeks, Oracle plans to amend its trade secret lawsuit against arch-rival SAP AG and the company's TomorrowNow subsidiary. With the amendment, more details are expected to emerge in the dog-fight between the two giants in the enterprise applications industry.

According to court documents filed in the U.S. District Court for Northern California, Oracle intends to file its first amended complaint sometime between Sunday and May 18. After it files its amendment, SAP will have 20 days to formally respond to the allegations, the court documents state.

The legal wrangling centers on allegations that TomorrowNow, … Read more

Collective Intelligence: Cogenz, ConnectBeam, Stikkit, Diigo

Harnessing the benefits of social bookmarks in a corporate setting seems like the next big thing. And if you've ever just wanted to write directly onto a Web page, the two best options are here at UTR.

Stikkit kind of cheated. Instead of talking about its little yellow notes that think, the presentation veered off to a lovely new e-mail assistant named Sandy. Simply cc her on your e-mail, telling her what you want--contacts, tasks, events, and so on--and she'll respond right back with your information. Cool for individuals ... not so cool if you can't cc people … Read more