From grassroots software development groups to feature stories in mainstream journals, "Open Source" software--where the underlying code is publicly available--is increasingly portrayed as "the next big thing" in digital-based innovation.

Surprisingly, however, the critical managerial issues raised by Open Source have not yet been identified--let alone seriously examined. In fact, Open Source is a profoundly compelling business matter that should be on the radar screen of all forward-thinking managers.

Therefore, we decided to bring together a group of influential leaders from diverse fields and hold an in-depth, business-oriented discussion on Open Source. At this thought-provoking forum we addressed key factors in determining whether and how Open Source could have a significant impact on the world of business.

Important managerial questions need to be asked and answered:

• What are Open Source's key implications for business managers?
  
• Is an entire "Open Source" industry forming with a plethora of real business opportunities? Or is Open Source a fad, soon to disappear?
  
• Will Open Source affect the organizational structure and information management of the modern enterprise?
  
• And, even more broadly, does Open Source signal fundamental changes for all firms and the nature of work?
  

Just consider, for a moment, the significance of recent events within the marketplace:

New companies, such as Red Hat have formed and received major investments from the likes of Intel and Netscape to cater to this new Open Source market.

Corel, maker of WordPerfect, is porting its complete office suite of applications to Linux, an open-source-developed operating system.

Oracle and Informix have announced plans to support Linux, and IBM will ship the most widely-used Web server, Apache--another open-source-developed software--for which it will also provide commercial, enterprise-level support.

Microsoft, the world's largest software company, has acknowledged Open Source software as "a direct, short-term revenue and platform threat."

This is the seventh in a series of events from the Institute for Technology and Enterprise on new dimensions for managing technological innovation and electronic business. Consistent with all Institute events, this half-day forum framed the Open Source issue in an explicitly high-level, managerial fashion.

We gained new insight into the business potential of Open Source. We considered and discussed:

• emerging business models based on the Open Source phenomenon;
  
• cases on specific firms harnessing Open Source;
  
• how Open Source possibly creates new markets and entrepreneurial opportunities;
  
• the overall business impact of Open Source in reshaping the way many people and firms work and network in the years to come.

Rebecca Angelbeck
Development & Communications Manager
Institute for Technology & Enterprise, Polytechnic University

Professor Barry Blecherman
Institute for Technology & Enterprise, Polytechnic University

Matt Czajkowski
CEO, Easier Computers

DJ Delorie
Senior Software Engineer, Cygnus Solutions

Mikael Edholm
VP Business Development, Ericsson

Jim Gleason
VA Research, Inc., President, New York Linux Users Group (NYLUG)

Frank Hecker
Netscape Corporation

Professor Mel Horwitch
Director, Institute for Technology & Enterprise, Polytechnic University

Jordan Hubbard
FreeBSD

Matt Hunt
President, Linux Users of New York (LUNY)

Daniel Jue
Senior Emerging Technology Strategist and Open Source evangelist, alphaWorks, IBM

Steve Lake
Senior Vice President-Development, iVillage

Pat Lynch
Systems Administrator, Computer Science Department, Stevens Institute of Technology

Thomas Mazzone
Director, Corporate Planning and Analysis, Fidelity Investments

Ziv Navoth
Executive Director, Institute for Technology & Enterprise

Greg Olson
CEO, Sendmail Inc.

Kevin O'Brien
Investment Development Manager, Reuters

Professor Mihir Parikh
Institute for Technology & Enterprise, Polytechnic University

Professor Bharat Rao
Institute for Technology & Enterprise, Polytechnic University

Eric Raymond
Open Source Initiative

Professor David Stark
Chair, Department of Sociology, Columbia University

Professor Nina Ziv
Institute for Technology & Enterprise, Polytechnic University