LinuxWorld offers focus on virtualization, IT interoperability

Computerworld - With a myriad of topics that range from virtualization to new enterprise applications and IT interoperability, the LinuxWorld Conference & Expo opens in Boston today for a four-day run that includes a keynote speech by Microsoft Corp.’s Bill Hilf, director of platform technology strategy.

It’s the first time ever that a Microsoft executive has delivered a formal address at the conference, although the company has offered technical presentations at past shows. Hilf plans to talk about “Interoperability: Dealing with the Diversity and Heterogeneity of Today’s IT Marketplace” Thursday morning.

In an interview last week, Hilf said his presence highlights a corporate reality: It’s rare for large businesses to have computing environments built around a single vendor or operating system. “It’s always mixed,” Hilf said, meaning success now often depends on how adaptable software is for user companies.

Even Microsoft, which for years has closely guarded its intellectual property, application programming interfaces and file formats, has been working in recent years to develop improved interoperability and performance for customers of open-source applications from JBoss Inc. and SugarCRM Inc., Hilf said. Atlanta-based JBoss offers open-source middleware, workflow applications and an application server, while Cupertino, Calif.-based SugarCRM offers commercial, open-source customer relationship management software.

For Microsoft, the interoperability focus reflects the need to evolve and respond to customers' needs, Hilf said. More than half of JBoss customers are already Windows Server users, he said, which made improved interoperability an important goal. “That’s value,” he said. “At the end of the day, that’s license revenue.”

Hilf came to Microsoft in 2003 from IBM, where he led IBM’s Linux technical strategy for the global emerging and competitive markets group. He runs a multitude of Linux distributions in Microsoft’s Linux lab, has been involved with open-source software for more than a dozen years and said he’s been to every U.S.-based LinuxWorld conference since the first one in San Jose in 1999.

“In the past few years,” he said, “ I think Microsoft has evolved a lot in its thinking ... because the marketplace has changed.”

“Microsoft is certainly not an enthusiastic supporter of open-source, interoperability, open formats, etc., but they’re not stupid people either,” said Gordon Haff, an analyst at Nashua, N.H.-based Illuminata Inc. “They’re smart enough that if they see themselves starting to lose business because of a lack of interoperability, or lack of using open standards, they will adapt. They’re not going to be out in the forefront leading the charge. Usually they’re not going to fight them and go down in flames, either.”