Software as a Service is the next big trend

Raven Zachary is research director for Open Source at the 451 Group, a technology industry analyst company headquartered in New York. As a community activist, Zachary is also a key organizer of BarCamps in the US. Alolita Sharma talks to Raven Zachary about the trends he sees as a key industry analyst and as an active community organizer in the open source world.

Q: In your role as research director at the 451 Group, what do you see as major hurdles to open source software’s adoption in Fortune 1000 companies?

Raven: The greatest barriers to adoption are in other segments, actually. The Fortune 1000, the largest enterprises, have been more capable of adopting open source due to their IT expertise and resources. Smaller firms are still using limited open source, if at all. Where there are hurdles for the Fortune 1000, they generally relate to the availability of support services — not all successful open source software has support options. Enterprises are still coming to terms with being a part of the community and looking for support outside of vendors.

Q: What do you see as the opportunities for success in Fortune 1000 companies?

Raven: The acquisition of talent is a big one. If your organization is dependent on open source software for business, go get the talent you need to provide the right level of service. This could mean hiring, outsourcing or engaging in contracts with support providers.

Q: Who do you see as the top three leaders (organizations or individuals) making a difference in the open source world? Why?

Raven: I would have to say the largest purveyors of open source software right now are the Free Software Foundation, the Apache Foundation and the Eclipse Foundation. Those three organizations are involved in the creation and distribution of a large number of highly successful open source projects. These organizations are by no means the majority, but they represent key components.

Q: What’s the next big trend you think we should all watch for in software and hardware?

Raven: In software we will see more hosted services and more components. The vision of a services enabled architecture will enable a lot of great opportunities for new application development. In hardware, we will see less of a focus on the fastest possible chips. Instead, we’ll see more devices with multiple CPUs delegating work as opposed to one single CPU doing most of the heavy lifting. Compute cycles are being distributed in the same way that software components are distributed.

“Open source is here to stay, and the reality is that it’s not an ‘all or nothing’ approach.”

Q: In the US and Europe, many open source developers and technologists are now wearing suits. They’ve gotten used to the idea that FOSS has become mainstream and is making money. Do you see a clash of cultures between the ideals of the open source community and the practicalities of the business community?

Raven: Open source, generally, is becoming less of a cause. It’s becoming mainstream; it’s no longer a new modality requiring the levels of activism we’ve seen over the past decade. Open source is here to stay, and the reality is that it’s not an ‘all or nothing’ approach. Open source will exist with proprietary software, in some form, for most organizations. The clash of cultures is less of an issue as these technologies are a fact of life.

Q: You have an interest in open source, which is a movement that is naturally self-organizing and serendipitous. Is there a connection between the open source movement and the BarCamp phenomenon?

Raven: I believe so. Open source is one of the strong threads through a BarCamp event, along with social media, Web 2.0, and software development. The notion of an ‘unconference’ is a natural one for the open source community.

Q: You co-organized a very successful DevCamp for the iPhone in San Francisco right after the launch of the Apple iPhone in June. What were the highlights of this three-day DevCamp and what would you like to have done better?

Raven: The biggest highlight for me was seeing the fruits of our labor. More than 300 people showed up and actually built apps! All that hard work paid off in the end. We were able to get sponsors to provide the venue, food, snacks, etc, which allows the attendees to stay in their seats working on cool apps.

The more you work on these type of events, the easier it gets. What I could have done better this time was more accurately guess the attendee size. San Francisco seems to have a larger percentage of people who sign up for events and then don’t show up (versus cities like Dallas, Austin and Portland, where I’ve produced events in the past). We over-bought food, and had we been better able to estimate the drop-off rate, we could have saved money for the sponsors.

We also didn’t print enough T-shirts. Another 50 or so would have been great for the folks who didn’t show up until Sunday.

Q: What would your three most important tips be to other BarCamp organizers across the world?

Raven: Recruit organizers to help out, delegate responsibilities, and trust people to make decisions on the fly Reach out to sponsors to help with the event — asking for money can be difficult for some people, but it doesn’t hurt to try. Also, ask sponsors to pay for costs directly without setting up a middleman banking system. This is more efficient, reduces the burden on the organizers, and increases the trust factor with the sponsors.

Don’t assume that people will find out about the event through friends. Actively promote the event through as many channels as possible — Upcoming, Craigslist, Facebook, the local newspaper, e-mails to friends, etc. We had a bunch of people who didn’t know about the event until after it was over and were disappointed that they didn’t have the opportunity to attend.

Q: What attracts active developers, creators and contributors to these camps? Is it the lure of cool bleeding-edge technology? Or is it the social networking?

Raven: Part of it is the local focus, the fact that it’s free, that anyone can participate and present — it’s a new way of gathering. A lot of people don’t want to go to conferences where they sit in a large auditorium listening to people up on stage and walking around an exhibitor hall talking to sales reps. There is a place for these type of events, but the ‘unconference’ resonates with a lot of people who are normally conference averse.