Integrating Open Source into Existing IT Platforms” conference. The conference will run from January 23-25, 2006 at the Omni San Francisco Hotel, San Francisco, CA.

This half-day executive primer on the business value of open source software to enterprises will run the morning of January 23, 2006 at the beginning of the marcus evans conference. Optaros open source experts including: Robert “r0ml” Lefkowitz (Board of Advisors — Optaros), Stephen Walli (Optaros, VP of Open Source Development Strategy), Dave Gynn (Optaros, Application Infrastructure Practice Lead), and Adam Michelson (Optaros, Service Oriented Architecture Practice Lead) will lead the session.

During the briefing, these industry experts will explore topics including:

How is open source software changing the way that IT executives invest in and manage their IT portfolios?

What open source software projects are truly enterprise-ready?

How are enterprises benefiting from open source? For what return on investment?

What should IT executives understand about open source license management, indemnification, maintenance, and support?

In which specific application areas can I leverage open source to lower my cost structure and accelerate application development today?

Optaros will also demonstrate an example of an application developed entirely with Optaros’ Application Assembly Methodology — a new application development methodology designed to help enterprises leverage open source software. The Optaros methodology helps Optaros clients assemble best-fit solutions from a broad array of open source products and components while minimizing risk and maximizing cost and time-to-market savings.

The “Open Source in the Enterprise” Conference

Over the years, open source has gained momentum and has become an integral part of many corporations’ enterprise architecture. Increased popularity, however, is mirrored by a rise in questions pertaining to actual cost, scalability, reliability, security, supportability, and legality. As open source moves into its next generation, these questions have to be answered and the myths surrounding it must be put to rest. Additionally, examination of improved tools that facilitate the integration, maintenance, and support of open source is needed. The “ Open Source in the Enterprise” event ( www.marcusevansbb.com/opensource) will bring together leading industry practitioners from every stage of open source implementation.

Experts in the industry such as Jay Hansen, CEO of Avalanche; Roy Fielding, Cofounder, The Apache Software Foundation; Ken Coar, Board Member, Open Source Initiative; Douglas Phillips, Attorney, Covington & Burling will give informative sessions on maximizing support as well as licensing considerations for open source software in order to avoid legal penalties for your organization and ensure utmost advantage. Other key speakers include: John Alberg, CIO & CTO, Employease; Barry Vandevier, CTO, Travelocity; Robert Wiseman, CTO, Cendant Travel Distribution; Rick Malinowski, CIO, State of Colorado; Bob Gatewood, CTO, Athenahealth; Jeremy Zawodny, MySQL, Yahoo!. These key speakers along with other presenters will share best practice case studies and address topics that include evaluating, implementing, and ongoing management of open source software; moving your critical IT infrastructure to open applications and decrease time to market; integrating open source within your current IT platform; gowing your business without growing your IT needs; tailoring applications to enhance productivity and profit; and more.

About Optaros Optaros Inc. (www.optaros.com) is a venture capital-funded consulting and systems integration firm that helps large enterprises use open source software and global sourcing to reduce the cost of commercial software and rapidly build high-quality, cost-effective and more flexible business applications. From offices in Boston, Geneva and Zurich, and with off-shore delivery partners, the firm provides a range of services necessary for enterprises to maximize the benefits of open source software — to replace existing costly proprietary software or to build new business applications. Having launched two of the most successful IT service companies of the last two major shifts in technology, Optaros´ management brings substantial expertise to creating a company that can help clients fully adopt new technology models and platforms.