Misys aims to open source healthcare, but forgets the source
Dana is right: if Misys wants to be taken seriously as an open-source player, it needs to remember that open source is about more than source code. It's about transparency in how one does business. But, for starters, it would be nice to get Misys' source code.
Today Misys announced that it is open sourcing its Misys Connect healthcare solution. Misyss is a big player in the global healthcare business, serving more than 110,000 physicians in 18,000 practice locations and 600 home care providers and employing 4,500 people with customers in more than 120 countries.
Mike Laurie, CEO of Misys, exulted in the move, declaring:
Making Misys Connect available to the open source community is an innovative way to connect healthcare communities and advance the improvement of patient outcomes, which is critical to addressing some of the systemic issues in the U.S. healthcare market today.
What he failed to mention was the license, the location (to download the source), and to give any details on how to get involved.
You won't find the project on Sourceforge. Codehaus doesn't have it, either. Nor does Misys on its own website, apparently.
What benefits will Misys derive from open source if it doesn't engage an external development community? Microsoft and others have been sharing source for some time, under proprietary licenses. That's not open source, and I don't believe that is what Misys has in mind. So why not do more than issue bold press releases? Open source is not marketing. It's an extended engagement with a community larger than any one person or company.
Misys seems to have overlooked this. Let's hope they become a bit savvier about open source before their next "We're changing the world through open source!!!!" press release.
Matt Asay brings a decade of in-the-trenches open-source business and legal experience to The Open Road, with an emphasis on emerging open-source business strategies and opportunities. Matt is vice president of business development at Alfresco, a company that develops open-source software for content management. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure. You can follow Matt on Twitter @mjasay. 
Alex Fletcher
http://alexfletcher.typepad.com
Open source is more than just code but by announcing the open sourcing of their Connect product, it might be the best first step for Misys to approach in building and/or joining a community?