The 451 Group Announces Its Panelists for Open Source Summit

1 January 1970

The 451 Group, an independent technology industry analyst company focused on the business of enterprise IT innovation, has secured a solid panelist lineup of senior executives for its open source software industry summit being held in Palo Alto, California next month. The panelists' companies are representative of different approaches to the open source software model within the enterprise IT arena. This exclusive, invitation-only program will examine the pros and cons of various licensing models and will look at the decisions that enterprises and vendors need to make when considering whether to incorporate an open source approach into their businesses. It will also examine how investors should view the use of open source in potential investment targets and how open source affects the value of and risk associated with investments made in this area.

The executive panel at the summit will include the following industry leaders:

-- Black Duck: Douglas Levin, President and CEO

-- CollabNet: Bill Portelli, President and CEO

-- Covalent: Mark Brewer, CEO

-- JBoss: Ben Sabrin, VP, Americas

-- IBM: Daniel D. Frye, Development VP, IBM Linux Technology Center

-- Iona Technologies: Larry Alston, VP, Product Management

-- Novell: Matt Asay, Director, Linux and Open Source Strategy

-- Pervasive Software: TBA

-- SugarCRM: Clint Oram, Cofounder and VP/General Manager, Sugar On-Line

-- Sun Microsystems: Tom Goguen, VP, Software Group

The Industry Summit on the Commercial Adoption of Open Source Software is taking place on October 12, 2005 at the Crowne Plaza Cabana Hotel in Palo Alto, California. It coincides with the upcoming release of The 451 Group's next 451 Special Report on this subject, which will provide 100-plus pages of analysis of the potential in commercial adoption of open source.

Summit Focus

The summit will feature The 451 Group's Enterprise Software Senior Analyst, Rachel Chalmers, who will present her thesis for what competitive factors and opportunities companies and investors interested in this technology space need to pay attention to in order to shape this emerging market and to build a successful business model around open source.

"The use of open source software is fundamentally changing the way that vendors, end users and investors do business and make money. Like all powerful tools, open source can do damage if used improperly; however, the potential benefits also are massive, and that's why it's important to understand where there is upside potential in the commercial adoption of open source," commented Chalmers.

The summit will be attended by a who's who of C-level and VP-level executives at key vendor companies (ranging from sector leaders to startups), leading venture capital investors, investment bankers, industry professionals and a select number of early-adopter end users. Attendance is by invitation only; interested executives may contact The 451 Group directly to request an invitation.

For more information on the summit, visit: www.the451group.com/products_and_services/event_detail.php?icid=121

About The 451 Group

The 451 Group is an independent technology industry analyst company focused on the business of enterprise IT innovation. The company's analysts provide critical and timely insight into the market and competitive dynamics of innovation in emerging technology segments. Clients of the company - at vendor, investor, service-provider and end-user organizations - rely on 451 insight to support both strategic and tactical decision-making for competitive advantage.

The 451 Group is headquartered in New York, with offices in key locations, including San Francisco, London and Boston. For additional information on the company or to apply for trial access to its services, go to: www.the451group.com.