Just as open source and open standards were critical to the emergence of the Internet it will continue playing an increasingly important role in the evolution of the next generation of e-business on demand. Open source can help accelerate the adoption of open standards and help drive new business opportunities like web services and grid. But it's still about solving customer problems even in an open source world. And the solutions are not just about licenses and development models. Its about integrating hardware, software, and services together. Almost all major vendors are doing it and this presentation explores lessons learned to achieve the major benefits of open source, often combined with commercial licensed software, that make it all worthwhile...for vendors and for customers.

[Full title: "Delivering Solutions with Open Source Software in an On-Demand World." This keynote presentation was recorded at the Open Source Business Conference 2004 held in San Francisco, CA. An PDF file of this presentation's graphics is available. See the complete list of OSBC 2004 presentations on IT Conversations.]

Scott Handy is currently the vice president of Worldwide Linux Strategy and Market Development for IBM. Prior to that he has held numerous executive, technical sales, marketing, and strategy positions covering Large Accounts, Channels, Small and Medium Business, and IBM solutions for Windows NT, Sun Solaris, and OS/2 Warp. He has been with IBM for over 19 years and is currently based out of Somers, New York. Scott started with IBM in December 1983 as a systems engineer specializing in PCs, LANs, communications, and interoperability after completing his BS degree in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of California, Berkeley.