Author: John Koenig
SAN FRANCISCO — Former Oracle Corp. President/COO Ray Lane, who is now an IT venture capitalist with Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, recently brought together a panel of open source experts at the Open Source Business Conference for two hours of candid commentary on the state of the enterprise software industry and the impact of open source.
Prior to the meeting, Lane had privately asked a few dozen CIOs for their views on open source in the enterprise. While Lane didn’t share the exact details of their concerns, he said in general, CIOs expressed a great deal of angst about traditional enterprise software.
“They are looking for alternatives, and open source may offer them greener pastures,” Lane said. “Their interest in open source is not just about economics, but about higher quality, better participation, and improved responsiveness,” he explained.
