In his talk titled “Open Source, Microsoft, and Making SugarCRM Great with Windows, IIS and SQL Server,” Bryan Kirschner, Microsoft’s director of Platform Community Strategy, shared his company’s perspectives on open source and the importance of community collaboration.

Looking Back
Kirschner brought a historical perspective on software by pointing to the unprecedented growth of personal computers and Internet users since 1995. A growth unthinkable in the late 60s when the “Software Crisis” phrase was born, reflecting the fear that software had hit a wall.

In 1995, we saw the first release of what has now become Apache, MySQL was founded, and soon after, SourceForge came to existence. The introduction of the Internet along with the increased number of PC users around the world gave birth to a culture of online collaboration. Software rose to the challenge and endless lines of codes came together to create great applications.

History Repeats Itself
With endless lines of code out there, will another “Software Crisis” immerge now that software seems to have reached becoming all it can be? With open source collaboration increasing across the world, commercial developers are tapping into the collaborative ideas open source offers. Windows is a platform for applications whether they are open source or not, a reflection of a vision about participation, and an aspiration for even more growth.

Looking Ahead
Partner businesses are increasing internationally because in order for commercial software developers to succeed and grow they must employ collaboration, open source strategy, and open business. Today, Microsoft is taking initiatives in the open source community and working with SugarCRM to make Windows Server, IIS, and SQL Server outstanding platforms for shared customers.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 7th, 2008 at 3:21 pm and is filed under SugarCon. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.