No chief technologist wants to deploy unproven open source software, risking the operational integrity, revenues and reputation of his or her enterprise. Yet just as certainly, no CTO wants to be left behind as technologies such as the open source LAMP software stack ripen, leaving the field open to its innovative use by nimbler competitors. To help technology decisionmakers assess the tipping point, Nashville-based Remarkable Wit, LLC has invited global leaders in open source development to an Enterprise LAMP Summit to make their case that LAMP—Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP, Python and Perl—has proven its ability to provide performance that CTOs at the world’s largest enterprises can rely on for global deployment.

Speakers at the groundbreaking Summit, slated for Nov. 5-6, 2009 in Nashville, TN, will include:

• Lee Congdon, CIO of Red Hat (NYSE: RHT), the world's leading open source and Linux provider;
• Andi Gutmans, CEO of Zend Technologies, which develops PHP, the technology that powers roughly 40% of the Internet;
• r0ml (Robert Lefkowitz), thought leader, über-CTO and VP of Asurion;
• William Hurley, Chief Architect of Open Source Strategy at BMC Software (NYSE: BMC), which is used by 85% of Fortune 500 companies;
• Kent Freeman, CIO of Ingram Digital;
• Bob Miller, VP of Technology at Magazines.com;
• Paul Santinelli, Partner at North Bridge Venture Partners and former Director of Red Hat Network;
• Jimmy Guerrero, Senior Product Marketing Manager at MySQL;
• Baron Schwartz, Director of Consulting, Percona, Inc.;
• John Busch, Ph.D., CEO of Schooner Information Technology;
• John Reuning, Lead Architect of Lulu.com; and
• Josh Berkus, CEO of PostgreSQL Experts, Inc. and member of the Technical Steering Committee of Open Source for America.

The Enterprise LAMP Proposition

Organized by thought leadership and tech evangelist firm Remarkable Wit, LLC, the conference pivots on the assertion that not only the LAMP stack but also a growing array of what CEO Marcus Whitney calls “LAMP-friendly” technologies stand ready to introduce a new era in internet technology.

Whitney explains, “Technology leaders need reliable, secure, highly functional, high performance, portable and scalable internet service applications. In the past, often that meant turning to proprietary software. Open source options simply had not proven their mettle seven or ten years ago, and high-profile CTOs were right to wait.

“Now, however, because of the maturity, velocity, security and scalability achieved by the LAMP stack and the training, certification and support offered by a solid array of providers, many IT thought leaders believe that LAMP can deliver solid business value to global enterprises.”

Indeed, parts of the suite now power the Internet; securely hold personal healthcare information; and provide content management for the world’s most august publications, including the New York Times. Other parts provide the operating systems for entertainment giant DreamWorks; the ATM systems for Brazilian banks; BMW’s virtual aerodynamic modeling; PayPal’s middleware tier; the Chicago Mercantile Exchange; the government of Japan; the National Security Agency; NASA; the optical character recognition software used by the U.S. Postal Service; and the sonar operations of the U.S. Navy.

Moreover, Whitney asserts, LAMP has transcended its origins and today is as an acronym more symbolic than literal, encompassing reliable open source options. Internet-enabled operating systems, for instance, start with Linux and now include FreeBSD, OpenBSD and Darwin. Open source Internet application servers span Apache HTTPD, JBoss, Tomcat and Zimbra, while open source databases range from MySQL, PostgreSQL and SQLite to CouchDB and MongoDB. Finally, open source Internet-focused programming languages now include the standards, PHP, Python and Perl, as well as Java, JavaScript, Ruby and Erlang.

In addition, the hardware infrastructure on which LAMP used to run has matured beyond its legacy. While not a fit for every enterprise, innovations such as IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service), PaaS (Platform as a Service), $aaS (Paid Software as a Service) and oSaaS (Open Software as a Service) now offer CTOs even more flexibility in how they structure systems.

Because of these software and hardware advances, Enterprise LAMP is becoming a mainstream choice for enterprise use.

About the Enterprise LAMP Summit

More than 200 CTOs from leading regional and national firms are anticipated at the Summit, which is sponsored by Emma, the Web’s most stylish communications and marketing firm; the Williamson County (TN) Office of Economic Development; the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce; the Nashville Technology Council; Vaco, an Inc. 500 placement firm; XL LED Lab, a division of XL Video; and media partners php|architect magazine and Python Magazine.

During the Summit’s complementary event, Big LAMP Camp (Nov. 7), leaders from innovative open source firms will share their on-the-ground reports in an engaging multi-track event that is expected to draw 600 developers from North America.

The Camp will offer direct access to the coders who use, troubleshoot and evangelize the LAMP software suite, providing an excellent recruiting opportunity for firms that require exceptional talent. In addition, the credibility and authority of the Camp speakers will provide a high-powered, low-cost training opportunity for development teams.

The Enterprise LAMP Summit and Big LAMP Camp are thought leadership initiatives of Remarkable Wit, LLC. Register at www.EnterpriseLAMP.org.

Attn. Editors: r0ml is c.q. as r-zero-m-l