| Interoperability is one of the sacred goals of IT, and | | | | (who now owns SourceForge Enterprise), |
| even consumer computing. If operating systems, | | | | EnterpriseDB, Hyperic, JasperSoft, SourceForge.net, |
| utilities, and applications do not work together, user | | | | SpikeSource, and Unisys ... well, you have a bit of |
| productivity matches the low level I achieve on | | | | muscle to get things done. |
| Friday around cocktail hour ... which is "none at all." | | | | What OSA initiated is an interoperability roadmap -- |
| Open Source is ripping profitability out of the IT | | | | an attempt to specify some well-defined |
| software market in part do to growing | | | | interoperability standards in the business software |
| interoperability. Unlike traditional technology vendors, | | | | space. That's right, interop in applications. The |
| Open Source benefits from creating the greatest | | | | objective is to document standards and best |
| amount of interoperability possible. More commercial | | | | practices for Open Source developers to use when |
| vendors keep margins high by locking in customers to | | | | building their software. The OSA will help by |
| their suite of products. This is partially achieved by | | | | prototyping working code to demonstrate the |
| minimizing interoperability with competing and | | | | principles of the standards. The initial prototype will be |
| non-partner solutions, and thus raising switching costs | | | | the Common Customer View. This standard joins |
| should a customer consider "dumping and jumping" to | | | | information held in different applications (CRM, ERP, |
| a different stack. | | | | etc.), business intelligence software, and for demo |
| Linux/GNU and their compatriots have been a model | | | | sake, a legacy point-of-sale application. |
| for interoperability. They collectively seek to create | | | | This presents new issues for software marketing |
| as much of the stuff as possible, assuring most of | | | | professionals. If you are a traditional application |
| the components of the Linux stack work extremely | | | | vendor, you will eventually encounter new |
| well together. Without traditional profit motives, the | | | | competitive threats. All other things being equal, |
| only barriers to interoperability were time and | | | | interoperability between Open Source applications |
| complexity (the time it takes to code interoperations, | | | | would be a deal-making differentiator. Your products |
| and the complexity of supporting multiple points of | | | | will either have to interoperate with best-of-breed |
| interoperation). | | | | commercial applications, interoperate with Open |
| But this interoperability has been done on a | | | | Source applications using OSA standards, or both. |
| handshake when developers from different projects | | | | If you are a dual-source vendor, these standards will |
| found need and motivation. This has led to odd | | | | become part of your value proposition. This is a boon |
| partnerships, some necessary exclusivity, and a bit of | | | | to dual-source vendors, creating an advantage over |
| weariness by IT in adopting Open Source solutions | | | | best-of-breed commercial applications while adhering |
| for fear that necessary interoperability that exists | | | | to the Open Source promise of lower cost and |
| today might not exist in the future. Open Source has | | | | greater flexibility. I can foresee a time when the old |
| now grown to a point where consumers desire a bit | | | | networking-centric Interop trade show could become |
| more structure. | | | | the application-centric Interop event, where all the |
| The Open Solutions Alliance (OSA) has started adding | | | | application software vendors demonstrate live how |
| structure. This happened pretty quickly for an | | | | they work with all the other vendors in the building. |
| organization that didn't exist three months ago. But | | | | Interop launched standards-based networking, and |
| when you have founding members like CollabNet | | | | OSA may launch standards-based applications. |