IBM has been engaged with open source projects for a very long time. In many ways open source is key to the companies strategy, but why is that?
In this session Don Harbison will examine IBMs motivations and strategies with respect to open source software. Using the OpenOffice project as an example Don will illustrate the key arguments for Open Source in IBM including standards adoption, product commoditization, open innovation, resource sharing and value creation.
OpenOffice was recently donated by Oracle to The Apache Software Foundation and IBM has committed its resources to help support the new Apache project's success, furthermore IBM has announced the contribution of the majority of its Symphony source code to the OpenOffice project. Don will illustrate why an independent, not-for-profit, software foundation was chosen, and why IBM is fully committed to the project's success.