This week, Unisys launched Open and Secure Integrated Solutions, a series of database and application software tools aimed at the enterprise developed through open standards.
The Open and Secure Integrated Solutions application server suites include the JBoss Application Server, a custom-tuned Java virtual machine and Unisys application defender for Java Web applications running in JBoss.
The database server suites include MySQL and PostgreSQL, as well as tools and services to move databases and application servers from Unix and RISC to Linux and Intel systems.
At the same time, the Open Management Consortium (OMC), which was formed last month, is working to develop standards to simplify the job of integrating disparate open source management applications in an effort to make managing large enterprise networks with open source tools easier for users.
The OMC is made up of six open-source companies keen to elevate the status of open source management tools in enterprise IT shops.
The OMC proposes its members develop common methods of collecting, sharing and reporting on management data collected across enterprise networks.
The premise of the OMC appeals to buyers because standards for collecting and sharing management data could address a critical pain point: freeware applications and proprietary products remain difficult and time consuming to install, integrate and customize.
"Open source management historically has been a bunch of fiefdoms that haven't come together in a comprehensive way for end users," says Mike Erwin, founder, president and chairman of Symbiot, a member of OMC. "The industry really needed something that could combine the efforts and help mature the separate projects on a similar path."
(Denise Dubie of Network World contributed to this article.)