InformationWeek > Open Source > Using Open Source As A Weird Form Of Outsourcing > July 8, 2004

InformationWeek > Open Source > Using Open Source As A Weird Form Of Outsourcing > July 8, 2004

Software-maker Niku is opening most of the code in its project-scheduling app. The company believes it's a mature product and will concentrate on enhancing another app.
By Larry Greenemeier
InformationWeek



Niku Corp. has placed the future of its decade-old Workbench project-scheduling software in the hands of the open-source community.

The move is expected to cut the resources Niku must devote to developing and maintaining Workbench and provide Workbench customers with the ability to make enhancements to the software on an as-needed basis.

Niku's move to create Open Workbench is a response to customers willing to pay for software that they view as having a lot of value and yet seek less expensive or free alternatives for commodity pieces.

This trend won't hurt software-industry revenue, says Mark Moore, Niku's executive VP for products and services. He adds that reliance on the open-source community to tweak mature products such as Workbench on their own will force software vendors to devote more resources to newer, more sophisticated products that generate greater revenue.

Niku joins software makers Computer Associates and BEA Systems in opening proprietary code. CA in May said it would release its Ingres app-development and data-management software to the open source community in order to foster innovation and encourage developers and application vendors to use the database.