Many people make a common mistake -- they confuse open standards and open source. To be fair, some of this misunderstanding is encouraged by a few software companies seeking to obfuscate the meaning and value of open standards as well as open source. People assume the two terms are similar because they both include "open"; but they are quite different.

I plan to address each of these topics in depth in future blogs; for now, let's define these concepts at the highest level as follows:

• Open source is a software development methodology and a business model, and
• Open standards are agreed upon specifications that are widely available and implementable (versus those that are proprietary).

Open standards and open source are orthogonal concepts -- one is neither necessary nor sufficient for achieving the other. We must carefully scrutinize how these terms are used, recognizing that they are easily and often used incorrectly -- sometimes intentionally by those whose interests are served by the confusion.  One thing is clear, however -- both open source and open standards can be important components of IT ecosystems.

Oracle understands the difference between open standards and open source and recognizes that both can be useful in addressing customers' requirements. From the Company's inception, Oracle has been engaged in developing and implementing open standards, bringing to market one of the first commercial implementations of a relational database manager with a standard SQL interface.

Today, almost 300 Oracle engineers actively participate in over 200 working groups in more than 100 standards setting organizations. We contribute our professional time, money and intellectual property so Oracle products can interoperate with those of our competitors as well as partners.  We implement and support open standards throughout our technology stack.

Oracle also actively supports and is engaged in open source developer communities. We use open source software in our corporate IT infrastructure and as a platform for software development. We understand the benefits and limitations of open source -- both its development methodologies and business models -- and apply them when they best serve our customers' requirements.   

While mandating only open source or open standards solutions may be tempting, increasingly businesses and governments are taking a pragmatic approach of using open standards and open source each where appropriate. As organizations seek the benefits of both, a best practice is emerging -- using open standards wherever possible, and open source where appropriate. By finding the mix that satisfies their particular needs and requirements, these organizations are beginning to realize benefits that can accrue through the use of both open standards and open source.

By embracing open standards and using open source where beneficial, customers of all types can reduce costs by ensuring interoperability among diverse technologies while increasing choice and flexibility in system design and implementation. Recognizing that open source and open standards are separate and distinct (rather than alternative) concepts enables the definition of IT ecosystems that address organizations' specific requirements.

As an advocate of open technology standards, Oracle will continue to innovate and develop initiatives that speed solution time to market, support developer communities, and lower the cost of computing for our customers.

I will have more to say about open source and open standards in future missives; stay tuned.

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