Making Open-Source Apps More Appealing To BusinessesMaking Open-Source Apps More Appealing To Businesses

Companies know that putting open-source software into their application stacks can cut costs, but their need for support and accountability from vendors has limited its use in mission-critical environments. Exadel Inc. is trying to remove such barriers to adoption with new planning and support services, and an integrated development environment, for the open-source application development process.

The company Monday introduced the latest version of its Eclipse-based development environment. Exadel Studio Pro 3 lets developers use the Apache Struts Web application framework, JavaServer Pages, Hibernate object-relational database mapping, and the Spring open-source framework to create applications.

Although open source has been touted as the future of software, its value to businesses is limited if businesses don't have the appropriate level of planning and support. "Application development isn't just a matter of sitting down and banging out code, it's about trying to create something of value for a business," says Forrester Research senior analyst Michael Goulde.

Open-source applications and developers' tools typically have been introduced to businesses by their programmers. But, as open-source becomes more mainstream, "you'll see the managers of these application developers want to create a more streamlined development environment," Goulde says.

Exadel incorporates multiple open-source applications and tools into its Studio Pro framework to make it easier for developers to work in open source, Goulde says. He adds that Exadel is expected to appeal to programmers deeply involved in open-source application development as well as those who, to this point, have been put off by the complexity of developing and integrating open-source applications.