I was fortunate to be asked by my friend, Jon Williams, to speak at Wednesday's New York CTO Club, a gathering of dozens of CTOs from a range of interesting (and some quite large) enterprises. The topic today was "Open Source as a Renewable Resource," with the focus on how enterprises can contribute cash or code (or other contributions) back to open-source communities.
However, much of the discussion turned on how open-source companies should be making money, rather than how enterprises should be contributing code. The interesting thing was that while the CTOs looked to open source as an inexpensive means of discovering and evaluating software, all seemed to believe that adding proprietary services or software was the right way to monetize it.
I was surprised, to say the least. I talk with a lot of enterprises in the course of my business, and open source is always a primary reason for why they purchase my company's product, even if they don't intend to view or modify source code. The question I never asked, however, because my company doesn't offer proprietary software, is how the buyers would react to proprietary ("commercial") components.
From what I heard today, it's a non-issue. Every CTO that spoke up (and it was a very open forum) said that they are happy to pay for proprietary extensions to open-source software, and criticized pure-play open-source vendors for not providing an obvious, compelling reason to pay: proprietary bits. (One actually said that we have built a great financial model...for SIs, not for ourselves.)
Trying to shift the burden of proof back onto themselves, I asked why they don't contribute to the open-source projects from which they derive so much value. Many indicated that it's too hard to contribute back to open-source projects due to internal legal issues and the high bar to knowing how to contribute. They suggested that they would instead prefer to pay the open-source companies to do that work for them.
... Read moreInfoworld has named its top-25 CTOs for 2008. It's a great list, and I'm feeling pretty good that two of the top 25 use Alfresco (E*Trade and Kaplan). Now for the others....
Actually, chest-thumping aside, it would be interesting to hear how these CTOs are using open source, generally. I'm betting that open source runs through the veins of most of these, given the importance of open source as a foundation for enterprise innovation, yet Infoworld's feature only calls out the aggressive use of open source by Virgin America:
Maguire was able to install open source software in only a couple of days instead of weeks or months for a traditional, bulky application needing lots of configuration, training, and infrastructure. Moreover, Maguire claims his open source approach has "easily saved the company over $5 million."
The best CTOs are the best because they know how to drive innovation and productivity while simultaneously saving money. That's open source.
(Credit:
Matt Asay)
I've known Jon Williams, chief technology officer of Kaplan Test, for a few years, and have always been impressed by his active involvement in the technology world. He blogs. He helps to run a New York CTO breakfast club. He keeps involved with various open-source communities. He's an ideal CTO.
Given Jon's background, one statement that he made in his opening remarks particularly impressed me:
I don't use open source because it's free....I use open source because it works.
Jon then offered up several key benefits derived from open source at Kaplan Test:
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