451 CAOS Theory 
A blog for the enterprise open source community
The future of cloud computing is the future for open source
Jay Lyman, April 12, 2011 @ 7:59 pm ETI recently wrote a column about the lack of a cloud computing bubble, even though the hype and marketing levels around the cloud have risen along with innovative technologies and vendors. As we consider what’s next for cloud computing with a survey presented by 451 Group, North Bridge Venture Partners and GigaOm, we will also be able to get a good sense of what’s next for open source software, given the prominence and significance of open source in the clouds.
Given our most recent efforts to track open source software in the enterprise, it is relevant to note that we see a continued, symbiotic relationship between open source and cloud computing. In fact, in many ways, the future of open source depends on the future of cloud computing and vice-versa. One of the symbiotic relationships between open source software and cloud computing is also one of the main reasons I believe both will continue to be a big part of enterprise IT and a big opportunity for vendors and investors: customer enablement. The lessons, practices and community of today’s enterprise IT that have been ushered in by open source – more transparency on the plans for products and code, more flexibility in working with both legacy products and software as well as newer open components, add-ons and combinations, faster development and fewer dead ends via vendor death, acquisition or strategy shift — are being applied to cloud computing. We also see evidence of this customer enablement in the makeup of today’s communities, both open source and non, which include both developes and users/customers.
I continue to have some concern about how open will be open enough, and whether that will truly be open and collaborative enough for these new, customer-enabled cloud communities.
However, I remain convinced that cloud computing may be opening up and, just like open source, is much more than a catch-phrase or hyped-up marketing term. It is central to the continued success, growth and innovation of vendors and users in the key categories I cover, including open source and devops.
Comments (1) Categories: Software
[...] The survey also indicated a realization among users that the cloud is no silver bullet and will not necessarily reduce IT staff or complexity, for the most part. Nearly 75% of respondents indicated the cloud would mean supporting the same staff or require more hiring, while only 26% expected a decrease in staff with the cloud. Perhaps a case of education from previous deployment of open source software, virtualization and other trends before the cloud, we believe this shows an intelligence in the market that should equate to effective and rapid uptake of cloud computing resources and offerings. We will of course continue to track these aspects of cloud computing, but we have no doubt that open source software will continue to play a key role. [...]