Asay the Alfrescan

Larry suggested I quit my whining on his blog and do a session at LinuxWorld instead. So, I am. I’ll be moderating a great panel on the cost of bringing open source into an enterprise: “The Real World of Open Source Application Implementations: Case Studies from the Front Line.” Take a look at the session here.

This is something I’m going to be hitting hard this fall in Boston at OSBC. The more I sell and implement open source in real enterprises (rather than just talking about it), the more I think there is to say on the topic. The TCO studies don’t get their fingernails dirty - the best place to flesh out real costs of implementation are with real, live users and SIs.

For those who find LinuxWorld to be a bit dull, let’s liven it up a bit. On Wednesday, April 5 (mid-week of LinuxWorld), my club, Arsenal, will play Juventus, Fabrizio’s club, in the second leg of their Champions League Semi-Finals “tie.” I somewhat doubt Fabrizio and I will be manning our booths at that time….(Join us in the lounge to watch the slugfest!)

I’m willing to bet Fabrizio a free Afresco subscription (value: $7500/CPU) (for use by Funambol) against Funambol’s open source Blackberry-killer server software (for use by Alfresco internally). So, Arsenal wins, Alfresco gets the market’s top open source mobile email solution. Juventus wins (heaven forbid!), and Funambol gets the greatest open source Enterprise Content Management solution. Software only (no ugly Blackberries or server hardware included).

Deal, Fabrizio? Think your overpaid team can keep up with Europe’s rising force? Nah, neither did I.

If anyone else wants to weigh in, put your software on the line. I’ll keep track of bets.

[Pictured: Patrick Vieira, running in abject terror at the prospect of facing his old club, Arsenal.]