Open-Source Development EffectOpen-Source Development Effect

Open source isn't just influencing how companies buy and use software; it's also having an impact on how software is developed. As companies build increasingly complex and integrated applications across globally disbursed locations, the open-source model of distributed application development is taking hold.

To accommodate these needs, particularly within small and midsize businesses, CollabNet Inc. last week introduced a version of its distributed application-development service aimed at teams with fewer than 50 programmers. CollabNet Team Edition lets companies create collaborative work environments where their program- mers can access code and share documentation.

CollabNet hosts and manages the software used to create these environments, which programmers access via secure Web sites. "It became apparent to us that the average team size is between 10 and 15 developers," says Chris Clabaugh, CollabNet's VP of business development. "Smaller companies actually have a larger problem, in terms of making sure they're on time and on budget. If they miss, it has a much bigger impact on their organization than it would on an enterprise."

The Enterprise Edition of CollabNet's hosted collaborative-development environment, available since 2000, is used by large companies, including investment firm Barclays Global Investors and Hewlett-Packard's Collaborative Development Program. Enterprise Edition customers create a customized portal that can include their companies' logos and offers developers and managers access via a secure Web connection to a variety of different application-development projects companywide, depending on the user's access profile.

If CollabNet Enterprise Edition is a house, where users can customize and organize development projects as they please, Team Edition is more like an apartment, where programmers have access to a basic Web environment with little customization, Clabaugh says.

Much like an apartment, Team Edition also is priced to help companies get in on the ground floor. It runs $65 per month per user, with a minimum of five users, while Enterprise Edition is $175 per month per user, with a minimum of 100 users.