Red Hat CEO Says Innovation Trumps Cost Savings

“”Last year I was here talking about the advantages of open
source in a down economy,” he recalled during his keynote here at
the Open Source Business Conference (OSBC). “Open source is driving
a lot of innovation in IT, and I would argue that innovation will
slow significantly if we don’t see further adoption of open
source.”

“Whitehurst said being able to offer lower prices is always a
good thing when selling to enterprise CIOs, but with budgets
largely fixed he said companies like his can offer more. “What’s
sold to customers better than saying ‘We can save you money’ is to
show them how we can give you more functionality within your
budget. That’s a challenge CIOs get,” he said.

“Speaking more broadly, Whitehurst made a pitch for open source
solutions throughout the supply chain, manufacturing and industry
and society as a whole. Touching on a topical news story –
Toyota’s recall woes – he said he believes the company’s
initial evaluation that its problems are not related to electronic
parts failure. Rather, he implied it could be a software problem
hidden away behind closed code.”

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