Two prominent open source organizations – the OW2 Consortium and the Open Solutions Alliance (OSA) – representing developers, vendors, consumers, and communities throughout the world plan to merge to constitute a global platform for supporting research, development, distribution, and adoption of open source software at all levels of the information systems stack.

The OW2 Consortium is based in Paris with commercial, academic, and individual members in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Initially founded to develop a code base of open source middleware, the community has broadened its scope in recent years to include applications. The Open Solutions Alliance (OSA), based in California with commercial and end-user members in the United States and Europe, was created to drive the adoption of open source applications in enterprises and the collaboration between commercial open source vendors to enhance and increase the interoperability of open source solutions.

The combined organization will use the global reach, market penetration, and broad technical skills of its members to develop a diversified code base and portfolio of open source components, advocate for open source software, and promote collaboration and the open source model for development and innovation in enterprises, academia, and government.

“When you look at each organization's strengths in technology and market presence, as well as the global positioning of our members, OSA and OW2 look like two puzzle pieces waiting to be put together,” said Cedric Thomas, OW2 CEO. “We can do much more together than apart, and a combined entity will provide a single voice for open source worldwide and a unique global pool of open source resources.”

“Open source software has quickly matured as a robust alternative to proprietary software, first in the infrastructure stack, and now in business applications,” said Anthony Gold, OSA President. “Open source solutions meet business critical needs while offering flexibility and cost advantages to end users. By merging OW2 and OSA, we can drive that message home to IT professionals, CIOs, and CEOs throughout the business community, education, and government.”

“Open source has progressed on a global scale and the time is right for global organizations providing integrated platforms for development, education, and advocacy of open source software,” said Andrew Aitken, managing partner of the Olliance Group. “The combination of these two organizations will take the open source cause worldwide to the next level.”

About OW2

Founded in January 2007, OW2 is an independent industry community dedicated to developing open source code infrastructure and to fostering a vibrant community and business ecosystem. The OW2 Consortium hosts some one hundred technology Projects, including ASM, Bonita, eXo Platorm, Funambol, JOnAS, Joram, Orbeon Forms, PEtALS, SpagoBI and XWiki. For more information, please visit www.ow2.org

About the Open Solutions Alliance

The Open Solutions Alliance (OSA) is a nonprofit, vendor neutral consortium dedicated to driving the interoperability and adoption of comprehensive open solutions. Founded in 2007, it is supported by leading companies from around the world who are dedicated to improving interoperability among software products, resulting in integrating and rapidly deployable solutions for business users. For more information, please visit www.OpenSolutionsAlliance.org.