Open Source in the banking industry

At a recent CNet post, Matt Asay talks about how Bank of New York Mellon has discovered the use of open source software for their banking needs. With open source software for their banking systems, they have a choice as to who they work with their programs and this choice to alter programs leads to innovation for their company. They can therefore be more competitive when it comes to the services they offer as well as operate more efficiently within their enterprise.

Open source software will become essential to many of the companies in business today. Every company uses many of the same software programs for a wide variety of actions, from banking operations to inventory at an airplane manufacturer. Allowing for the modification of the open source tools, these companies can bend the programs for their specific needs. By modifying a program, the operations performed will be quick and efficient. This will speed up the processes of the computer, leaving employees with more time for other tasks. Free time can bring about creativity which leads to innovation from the employees. They can also help in modifying the open source by providing opinions about what they feel can be better as a result of their daily operations. A company who uses and modifies their open source software will have a strong competitive advantage that may be hard to see from a competitor’s edge.

Open source software predictions in 2008

Dave Rosenberg’s latest post predicts what he envisions happening in 2008 with the software industry. He sees that the only way to start a company that involves software is to have it enable open sources or SAAS.

Some of the major things he sees for open source are:
-- Break-out stars (like MySQL)
--Consolidation by big vendors (like Oracle) or stronger OSS players (like Red Hat)
-- Fire sales at the companies that got funded but couldn't make it happen.

Dave also expects to see more business people becoming involved with the open source scene, and that business models will become more prevalent when it comes to the industry. What do you foresee happening this year?