siliconindia | | May 20159ways every day, it's paramount that software evolve. Open source solutions can be adapted to meet an organization's needs. From desktop to tablet to mobile phone, software today can be built to cross multiple platforms -- known and unknown. For example, a few years ago, TurboTax revolutionized tax filing with the introduction of its SnapTax mobile app, the first app to enable tax preparation and filing from a mobile device. SnapTax used the camera capability of the phone to snap a picture of a W-2 form and then automatically filled in the information on the taxpayer's return. SnapTax enabled the 60 million Americans who have simple tax returns (a 1040A or 1040EZ) to file their taxes in about 10 minutes on their mobile device. While this was significant innovation, it left millions of customers who had more complex returns unable to benefit from the ease and convenience of mobile tax preparation. After building multiple partial technology solutions like SnapTax, TurboTax recently renewed its strategy to innovate on its core technology and product experience. In the recent tax season, for the first time ever, all American tax filers could start or finish on any device. TurboTax achieved this by innovating on the core with open source solutions like node.js to deliver mobile offerings as a service. Access across boundariesOpen source also opens access to new candidates, new thinking and new collaborations, no matter one's location or organization. Open source solutions allow companies to go beyond collaboration within their organizations -- across company and global boundaries.It also provides an important way to show potential talent how they can contribute. Open source is "proof of innovation" in the company. This allows candidates to get a feel for life inside the company before they even interview or to get them to think about a company they normally would not consider.Why is collaboration important? Because a larger group of engineers working together will produce a more useful software with fewer bugs. To connect large groups of engineers as a community, organizations are open sourcing key software components like PayPal and their Krakenjs. These projects create the opportunity for engineers inside and outside PayPal to solve new problems and for their organizations to have better software. Move fastIn addition to a growing set of customer devices, data is being digitized at unsurpassed rates. We need software that can quickly adapt to harness the power of this data. The evolution of the 3rd Computing Platform allows big data and social to drive remarkably personalized experiences. Products that deliver the same experience to all customers suddenly feel outdated and old. Conversely, companies that use the new platform and the insights it delivers will deliver never-before-seen experiences. Conclusion At a speed that's hard to keep up with, technology is pushing businesses to innovate faster than ever before. In the battle against the rapid pace of technological change, companies across the globe, including Intuit, are instituting open source technologies, leveraging collaboration as their secret weapon in the fight.Open source is "proof of innovation" in the company. This allows candidates to get a feel for life inside the company before they even interview or to get them to think about a company they normally would not consider"
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