Right for the Wrong Reasons

To whichever ear they can bend, the top technology vendors have been articulating their visions of the future of computing. The biggest ear benders - IBM and Microsoft - have been composing and refining their visions and trying to make them reality. IBM, a corporate champion of open source software and Linux, envisions the next generation of computing to be governed by “outsourcing” open source based technology services. Rival Microsoft sees empowerment of the individual using its own brand of closed source software as key to the future of computing.

IBM’s On-demand Computing Services

IBM predicts that users of technology in industries ranging from auto makers to xylophone manufacturers will lose interest in implementing computing services in-house. Instead, they will buy computing services and support from technology vendors. Users can then use only what they need and pay for only what they use - on-demand. Further, IBM believes that open standards and open source software are the technology factories for shaping the new on-demand computing paradigm. And IBM sees Linux and its rapid spread across the enterprise as the main assembly line.

Competing Vision

Not surprisingly, Microsoft doesn’t completely agree with IBM. As in all things Microsoft, the individual user is the design point where further empowerment of the individual is key to the next generation of computing. Outsourcing computing services minimizes the individual’s personal control over computing resources because the on-demand model, according to Microsoft, is just a throwback to an earlier time-sharing paradigm. Instead, individuals on personal computers will use standards-based tools with Microsoft enhancements for everything from simple tasks to intricate applications. The individual is the smallest indivisible unit in a “per box” sales strategy - so Microsoft’s vision works hand-in-glove with its marketing strategy to maintain domination in the PC world. To empower individuals everywhere, Microsoft would build powerful tools based on open standards, embracing yet enhancing them with proprietary value-added extensions. For Microsoft, open standards provide the floors and walls of the factory but proprietary, closed source software continues to be the assembly line.

Right-Sourcing: OSS Works for All

On the surface, who can argue with either proposition: pay for only the computing you need and empower the user. The problem with IBM’s vision is that though many technophobic organizations would happily embrace on-demand services provided by a remote computing utility, many would not. Organizations who need to control their infrastructure for competitive advantage or for mission-critical reasons (e.g., national security) are not in the on-demand computing future as currently envisioned by IBM. This might be called “in-control” computing and requires the user empowerment envisioned by Microsoft.

However, the problem with Microsoft’s version of user empowerment is that users cannot be truly empowered by embrace and extend strategies. Just the opposite. The appearance of empowerment hides the trap door of cost and dependency.

Open source software comes to the rescue. Applications built for on-demand computing can be migrated to equivalent in-house resources as long as open source is used in both places. The reverse is true as well, where open source in-house applications can be moved to an ondemand environment. This universality of open source guarantees empowerment of the user because the users ultimately have access to the core of the technology and services they are buying and thereby retain the ultimate power in a free market: the choice to change suppliers.

The beauty of open source software is that it can do it all. It can cover the breadth of on-demand computing as well as “in-control” computing.