BI – Making it the Open Source Way
January 12th, 2010
It was great to read the post this am where Brian Gentile, Japsersoft CEO, announced Jaspersoft 3.7. This release brings a number of key features to the market and shows how BI tools are continuing to grow. Sure he talked about all the cool features that the product brings to market like in-memory analysis, charts and graphs made with Adobe flash but the real news in this was how Jaspersoft has figured out how to work the open source model.
Jaspersoft has done a great job in working with partners and shared that half their paid subscriptions come from this channel. He talks about how Jaspersoft is delivered in software appliances and to deliver services in the cloud, both from partners. We at Ingres are strong partners with Jaspersoft and can attest to the energy from the team and the interest from the market.
Jaspersoft has chosen an open source model where they release a community version of the product for users to take advantage of while they reserve selected features for paying customers. This model works well for Jaspersoft and coupled with their strong partnering capabilities have led them to being cash-flow positive. It is delicate balance that the guys at Jaspersoft admit they have to watch carefully but this dual- distribution model is certainly working for this BI startup.
Being in open source for the last 10 years, it’s great to see success from other open source companies and I’m always interested in the business models behind them.
