Open Source may have a lot of takers, but you need to consider how it can be utilized for your product. “Open source is free to download but will not effortlessly be integrated with your product line. You need to consider maturity of your product line and the open source you are evaluating to arrive at integration methodology - i.e. API based, Web Service based, Workflow based (on ESB ) or Business Process  based,” stated Vivek Kumar Singh, Open Source Evangelist, Independent Developer.

A session on the tips and tricks that can be used for getting things done using MySQL was given by Sanjay Manwani, Senior Software Development Manager at Oracle. He noted that MySQL is a full feature database with many easy to use tools. It can be setup and the first query can be implemented in less than 10 minutes. It has great performance tuning tools for both static and dynamic query analysis. MySQL has implemented  extensive and easy to use interfaces for user management and replication.

Divyanshu Verma, who is a Software Engineering Manager at Dell R&D, gave a session on "OpenStack and Crowbar: An Open Source Orchestration of IaaS cloud", in which he opined that more enthusiasts can try OpenStack using Crowbar and learn cloud computing without getting paranoid about it. The ease of setting up OpenStack using Crowbar- A Dell developed OpenStack  Orchestration tool  which is completely OpenSource and  freely available, is a good way to set up a IaaS since Crowbar abstracts all the complexity of setting up process and reduces time  to set up by the order of 5-6. He encouraged more engineers to contribute towards OpenStack and Crowbar development.

How Open Source can enable a company to have a competitive edge was covered in a session by Reghunath Balasubramanian, Principal Architect at Flipkart. He stated that OSS is bringing technology agility and differentiation to businesses like eCommerce. We are able to better user experience, understand them and engage them effectively. OSS adoption by highly visible projects like Aadhaar is a shot in the arm for OSS and community driven collaboration. Reghunath stated that we still have a long way to go on the contribution back to OSS in India.

Open Source will undeniably shape how organizations develop and invest in technology.