The Winning Strategy
Time to write about open source again! Jonathan wrote a blog entry which is commented by a reader being the most concise explanation for the open source strategy of Sun. He picks up on Microsoft claiming that free software like Linux violates more than 200 of its patents.
I already referred to the Microsoft Novell announcement concerning the SUSE Linux distribution that was from that day positioned as the only secure Linux (means safe from litigation in terms of violating Microsoft patents) on the planet by Microsoft due to Novell paying royalties to Microsoft.
As Jonathan puts it: “no amount of fear can stop the rise of free media, or free software” which is proven again by the results of a survey published by Forrester Research some time ago: Open Source Software’s Expanding Role in the Enterprises” subtitled “Companies Adopt Open Source as Standard.”
486 IT Managers participated in the survey, 50% already using open source software and amongst those another 50% for mission critical applications. 
Saving licensing cost is not the major argument for using free software, most IT Managers are appreciating the support of open standards, the use without any restrictions and not being locked in. The possibility of adapting the application to own needs and gaining efficiencies with internal processes is another key argument. In regards of the service expectations software maintenance, lifecycle support and integration with other software components are at the top of the wish list.
Our open source strategy is really paying off! Some time ago everyone really wondered how we could make money giving all the software away for free. Now we are seeing increasing revenue based on subscriptions. And as we see above the services piece should not be underestimated. No company would deploy a critical application without being sure to get the support they need! So basically we are securing our position as one of the big players through open source as this is the model of the future, secondly all people can use our software for free and thirdly we are increasing our business! Isn't that squaring the circle?
Posted at
10:35PM May 22, 2007
by Volker Seubert in Sun |
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Posted by Volker on May 23, 2007 at 10:21 PM CEST #