Open Source Vendors Prep Major Announcement
Lookout Oracle. Move over Microsoft.
At least eight small companies are forming an alliance that could stir demand for open source applications in the enterprise, The VAR Guy has learned. The group, apparently led by SpikeSource, will help guide and promote the integration of open source applications, databases and IT support.
Known as The Open Solutions Alliance, SpikeSource and its partners will announce their strategy on Feb. 15 at the LinuxWorld Open Solutions Summit in New York. Other likely participants include Centric CRM, systems management specialist Hyperic, business intelligence developer JasperSoft, collaborative performance management specialist Adaptive Planning, ERP developer Openbravo and EnterpriseDB. Collabnet founder Brian Behlendorf is scheduled to host and moderate the group’s announcement.
Several alliance members have spent recent months seeking VARs to support their solutions. While individual open source applications are gaining momentum, most businesses prefer integrated suites from Lawson, Oracle, Microsoft or SAP. SpikeSource and the forthcoming Open Source Alliance could potentially change that.
When emailed for comment, Behlendorf deferred to a spokeswoman. The spokeswoman, in turn, offered no additional info about the alliance. It’s unclear whether SpikeSource’s established partners–Alfresco, Drupal, Movable Type, MySQL, Newsgator, Open-Xchange and Socialtext–plan to participate in the alliance or the Feb. 15 announcement.