Today enterprises can strongly benefit from the innovation that can be unlocked using Open Source solutions. Now that the consumerization trend in IT is moving so quickly, newest technology solutions are Open Source right from the start. Open Source is no longer a mere substitute for commodity solutions, it has become a key enabler of innovative solutions that just would not have existed without Open Source. Open Source now has started to out-innovate the IT mega-vendors.

These concepts summarize the Accenture keynote presented by Accenture’s Tony Roby on the 4^th edition of the largest and most successful recurring Open Source Conference in the Benelux that was held on December 9^th in Amsterdam. The annual conference, founded by Accenture and Red Hat attracted nearly 800 people and offered an extensive program of real-life cases and first class keynote speakers. Simone Brummelhuis, founder and CEO of thenextwomen.com chaired the event. Simone is no stranger when it comes to innovation, as she is also part a member the Accenture Innovation Awards jury.

In the morning, plenary keynotes with titles like ‘Black Swans and Mobile Apps’ (Ron Tolido, Capgemini) and ‘The Perfect Storm and an Insatiable demand for Engaging Content’ (John Powell, Alfresco) included discussions about the revolutions in cloud, social and mobile solutions and the open future of cloud. Accenture’s Tony Roby presented how to take advantage of the Customer-driven Face and Enterprise Penetration of Open Source in the “Age of Open Source”.

Age of open source
In the last 5 years global enterprises have been experimenting with open source and kept an open mind to using it. Now, the open source software market has reached a turning point, with enterprises committing to clear strategies, policies and migrate mission-critical software to open source and open source software development. As the global enterprises and cloud providers continue to prove, the benefits of using Open Source software go well beyond cost-cutting. Due to among others the big reliance of web applications on Open Source, there is an increasing demand for open source solutions based on quality, reliability and speed, not just cost savings. Quality is overtaking cost as a primary adoption driver. This trend will develop as Open Source continues to evolve and address even more business critical functions.

Tony Roby ended with his final thought that Open Source is no longer following and commoditizing. Open Source has historically focused on commoditizing proprietary software, but the consumerization trend is moving so quickly that some of the newest technology solutions are Open Source from the start. With corporations more frequently turning to Open Source instead of traditional vendors, it has begun to out-innovate the traditional IT mega-vendors. It has evolved into an exceptional way to deliver high quality solutions that boost productivity and foster innovation.

After the inspiring and revealing morning keynotes, the 25 break-out sessions presented by Platinum and Gold Sponsors started in 5 different areas. These strong and independent sessions presented various customer cases and technical discussions ranging from Social CRM and Facing Big Data challenges to the future of Storage and Breaking down Content Silo’s with CMIS. Besides all presentations and sessions, the information market on the Prominade Deck provided both visitors and exhibitors with excellent opportunities for networking and community building in an open and very contemporary atmosphere.