Collaborative Software Initiative — the Linux-style, pooled resources software development and support company headed by former OSDL chief Stuart Cohen — says that its story and service based on collaboration among competitors is selling. What does CSI do? No, it doesn’t investigate open source crime scenes. Instead, similar to OSDL and now the Linux Foundation, the company brings together the business minds and the geeks to develop software more effectively at less cost using open source-style collaboration. CSI bases its business, which Cohen says is making money, on services that include software development and technical support, project management and community building.

The company’s first project, which relies on development software from recently-announced partner CollabNet, involves a handful of large financial services and banking organizations and their required compliance. Cohen says the companies were already on the path to collaboration through trade organizations and the like. CSI aims to smooth that path and take advantage of the technical partnership, contribution and meaningful collaboration that has allowed projects such as Linux, products such as OpenOffice and communities such as Eclipse to thrive. Cohen reports that regulatory compliance in particular is a common issue among companies that are eager and willing to work with one another, even competitors.

The next CSI project centers on compliance again, but it involves state and local government agencies working together to meet federal standards. This shows the benefits of collaboration extend beyond financial services and is further validation that the open source approach works for government.

More than anything, CSI is evidence, pardon the pun, of the open source model and its potential, as well as its impact on IT and industry in general. We’ll be watching as the company reveals more about its customers and projects in the coming weeks.