Open Source in Corporate Environments - Gianugo Rabellino

Gianugo Rabellino clearly traveled the farthest (from Italy) to present at the Philly Emerging Technologies conference. And when he got here he was faced with the realization that his presentation topic – open source in corporate environments – was being covered in one way or another by at least two other presenters. Fortunately, Rabellino (like software is supposed to be) proved adaptable.

Rabellino’s presentation deck won’t be of much use because he thoroughly avoided text in favor of images to illustrate his points. But here’s a quick look at a couple of highlights.

First, like Dodds before him, Rabellino emphasized open source as something more than technology. But then looking at open source as a broader approach, Rabellino went further and separated the category into two subsets. One subset that uses open source for distribution, but not in the development process. (SugarCRM is an example) And one subset that is fully open source and built around an engaged technical community (like Apache Software Foundation). Both are valid approaches, but their differences need to be understood.

Second, Rabellino introduced a perspective on enterprise open source that centered on its empowerment benefits. Instead of facing vendor lock-in (buying a large software package and getting officially locked in to a vendor for years), companies can keep their options open with open source solutions.

I wish it were possible to translate Rabellino’s dynamic and conversational tone into text, but there is only so much that can be conveyed in a blog post. Maybe the images from the slide deck will help. Be sure to check back.