Platform Wars – You don’t want them, so reject them
by Jevon MacDonald
OpenSocial will be announced this Thursday. OpenSocial is an API that allows for the interoperability of Social Networking services.
I have written recently about how I feel about closed platforms, and that I think open systems will prevail in the long term. Coupled with sensible strategy, openly accessible platforms are superior in many ways.
The same problems have been a speck in the eye of enterprise software for a long time now, and the time is approaching in which it will be time to stand up and begin rejecting closed platforms.
There is some homework to do before that time comes however. Organizations need to be well armed with contracts which require software interoperability, set usability standards and demand certain performance benchmarks be met. The days of all-knowing and all-controlling vendors and IT departments are set to be washed out to sea.
As Google attempts to outdo Facebook and Microsoft through openness, so too will you see smart IT vendors competing by being open inside the enterprise. Smart IT Departments and CIO/CTOs will see their role as stewards and protectors of this open system inside your enterprise. The benefit for your organization is that you can now confidently access smaller, more innovative, vendors who could not previously offer a sufficient set of deployment options to suit your larger enterprise.
You’ve paid enough of your hard earned money. Demand it.
