The Suits at OSB

If I'm doing a lot of references back to conferences in my latest posts, forgive me. We tend to write about what we know, and it seems the last 3 months, all I know is conferences.

That said, a very interesting observation from this week's OpenSource Business Conference. I don't usually attend OpenSource events, but the idea of the community and how it might impact the SaaS world was fascinating me. Plus it gave us the opportunity to meet with our critical partner, MuleSource (and have a couple of beers with the great Dave Roberts of Vyatta.)

That said, I figured I'd better wear jeans in order to get accepted with the OpenSource crowd. Unfortunately, I couldn't because of an earlier customer engagement. So at least I left my sports coat in the car.

When I got in the conference, I had to check if I was in the right hotel. Most people were wearing jackets and slacks, and I even saw some suits. This was OpenSource? When I commented on the formal (for the valley) attire, I was reminded it was the OpenSource Business Conference. I hadn't realized the seriousness of the gathering.

I will say I was a bit disappointed. When I worked at GlobalCrossing and MFN I saw them try to become just like AT&T and SBC. Trying to mix new company products with old company style ways of doing business was disastrous. You had none of the consistent revenue stream and institutional history of the old business's, and you sucked the enthusiasim and innovation out of the new business. Both companies suffered mightily.

Hopefully the same won't happen with many of these next generation companies. They will realize that selling to traditional business is as much or more about getting traditional business to change than it is about adapting to their old ways of doing things. Not that I mind the sports coats (it is my usual attire) but I hope losing the jeans doesn't mean losing the passion for changing the way things get done.