Articles by Christopher Keene

Viewpoint: Time for Open Source Software Vendors to Think Beyond Free

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 03:45:00 EDT

Of the many sins that Silicon Valley practices, none are more dangerous or prevalent than the sin of smugness. Savio Rodrigues has a good posting making the point that Microsoft is learning from and adapting to the open-source movement, while the open-source movement is so enamored with 'free' that they are not paying enough attention to the total cost of ownership from a customer's perspective.

Why Open Source Java will Win SaaS Platform Wars

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 04:15:00 EDT

Although the SaaS development platform has gotten a lot of attention, it has so far been remarkably closed and proprietary. The Platform-as-a-Service leader, SalesForce, has both a draconian hosting policy (host your apps anywhere, as long as it's with us) but also a proprietary language (who needs Java when you've got Apex!?). I think the same trends driving open source adoption everywhere else in the industry will ultimately drive SaaS adoption of open source, particularly by ISVs whose business plan does not include a low multiple sale to their proprietary hosting provider.

SaaS Platforms For ISVs and Who Wins?

Sat, 24 May 2008 11:30:00 EDT

Although SaaS development platforms like SalesForce and Coghead have gotten a lot of attention, this market has so far been remarkably closed and proprietary. The Platform as a Service leader, SalesForce, has both a draconian hosting policy (host your apps and data anywhere, as long as it's with us!) but also a proprietary language (who needs Java when you've got Apex!?). Moving forward, the same trends driving open source adoption everywhere else in the industry will ultimately drive SaaS adoption of open source, particularly by ISVs whose business plan does not include a low multiple sale to their proprietary hosting provider. Future SaaS platforms will converge with traditional tools, offering on-demand development based on traditional programming languages with built-in tools for mash-up based development for basic users.

JavaOne 2008: Chris Keene's Prescription for Curing the Java Flu

Tue, 13 May 2008 06:15:00 EDT

At WaveMaker, we have hitched our wagon to Java so I hope very much that JavaOne is showing us the ghost of Java present, not the ghost of Java to come. The Sun promise to put Java runtimes everywhere is meaningless if nobody wants to develop for those runtimes. Adobe and Microsoft are doing a far better job making their tools simple enough for mere mortals and focusing on the presentation layer.

AJAX and Open Source Communities Must "Liberate" the HTML Web from the Unweb

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 18:30:00 EDT

Web development and customer expectations have far outstripped the table management capabilities of HTML. The web needs to evolve to support building the Rich Internet Applications that people want to use. At the same time, web tools need to evolve to be able to handle the increasing complexity of building these apps. Is the only solution to improve the grid to break HTML by going to a proprietary solution like Silverlight? It is up to the AJAX and open source communities to 'liberate' the HTML web from the Unweb.

Two Doors to Enterprise Web 2.0 Adoption

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 05:00:00 EDT

Ben Worthen of the Wall Street Journal recently posted an entry about Web 2.0 adoption. He cited a Forrester survey that concluded Enterprise Web 2.0 solutions would gain broad adoption in 2008 despite clear CIO resistance to the siren call of blogs and wikis. Open source technologies like Spring and WaveMaker build unstoppable momentum within the IT organization by solving fundamental problems that much bigger players either cannot or will not solve.

Data Services for Next-Generation SOAs

Thu, 02 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EST

This article discusses the advantages of implementing shared 'data services' to deliver on the true promise of service-oriented architectures - rapid application development through reusable components without sacrificing fast, accurate enterprise data access.