10 Open-Source Developments You Need To Know About

Openbravo debuted its Openbravo QuickStart Edition, a version of its open-source ERP application set that the company said can be implemented in as little as 40 to 80 hours -- a fraction of the time needed to install most ERP software. Targeting SMBs, the preconfigured, entry-level software package offers application templates and other tools that solution providers use to sell the product with fixed-price services.

Pentaho unveiled Pentaho BI Suite Version 3.5, a new release of the open-source business intelligence software with tools that make it easier for business users to build their own reports and develop BI content for dashboards. The Pentaho software is also easier for third-party developers to embed within their own software products, thanks to a unified file format. And the company is even offering deals to encourage businesses now using Actuate, Brio, Cognos, Crystal Reports and Oracle reporting tools to switch to Pentaho.

Businesses looking for a cloud computing business intelligence system will be happy to learn about the partnership between Jaspersoft (see dashboard screen at left) and Talend, developers of open-source reporting and data integration software, respectively; RightScale, which develops a cloud management platform; and Vertica, a supplier of analytic database software. (RightScale and Vertica are not open-source products.) The vendors have combined their products to develop a preintegrated business intelligence software stack that provides companies, especially SMBs, with a quick route to cloud computing.

Open-source CRM application vendor SugarCRM now makes its Sugar Community Edition software available for developers on Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2). That allows ISVs and in-house developers who build applications on SugarCRM to leverage the application running on EC2 for their development, testing and deployment chores. The result: Reduced development times for programmers building apps for both private and public cloud computing environments.

BIRT (Business Intelligence Reporting Tools) is a project within the Eclipse Foundation that develops open-source tools for building reporting and business intelligence capabilities into Web applications. Actuate, a major BIRT backer, has launched a beta online marketplace where developers can showcase applications, components and services available to the BIRT community. Listings are free and early submissions include BIRT designs and templates, BIRT data connectors, frameworks for using BIRT within specific application architectures, applications and starter kits for supporting specific business processes, and BIRT extensions and component libraries. The site can be found here.

Alfresco Software now makes its open-source content management system and development tools available through the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) cloud computing system. That means Alfresco customers and partners can develop and deploy collaboration and document management applications through a cloud service architecture.



Alfresco cited a recent study which concluded that, through cloud computing, content could be managed at one-fifth to one-seventh the cost of managing content in a medium-size data center.

A coalition of companies has launched an open-source initiative that provides standard application programming interfaces for developers to access cloud application services, a move that should help spur the development of cloud computing applications. The first deliverables include interfaces for file storage and document database applications and simple queue services from platforms like Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Windows Azure. Backers of the initiative include GoGrid, IBM, Microsoft, Nirvanix, Rackspace and Zend Technologies. "The lack of portability across cloud application services for even the most basic operations has been an impediment to broader adoption of cloud services," said Zend CEO Andi Gutmans.

Looking to expand the market for its open-source software, Red Hat launched an initiative to combine its open-source products, including its flagship Red Hat Linux operating system and JBoss middleware, with applications from ISV partners for sale through the channel. Under the Catalyst Program, the preintegrated software packages will be sold through distributors Tech Data and Synnex to Red Hat's 1,500 VARs in North America. Red Hat is also providing resellers with sales and marketing assistance to help sell the Linux-based solutions.

Vyatta, a developer of open-source networking and network virtualization technologies, is optimizing its open-source router, firewall and VPN software to run in virtualized environments based on Citrix XenServer. The move makes it easier for organizations to use open-source technology to secure and manage network traffic in virtualized and cloud computing environments.



The new capabilities are available now for subscription customers and will be added to a future version of the free community version of Vyatta. The development work follows the announcement in June of a strategic alliance between Vyatta and Citrix to develop open network virtualization for cloud computing environments based on Citrix's Cloud Center Blueprints. Citrix is also an investor in Vyatta.

DotNetNuke offers an open-source Web content management system and application development framework for building Web sites and Web applications for Microsoft's ASP .Net framework. The company also offers commercial versions of its software, and the company recently extended that product line beyond its DotNetNuke Professional Edition by adding Elite Edition and Elite Edition Premier versions of its software targeting large companies. Also available are new developer support services, including developer mentoring, and design and architecture review of developed Web sites and applications.