CEO panel says open source keeps IT spending down

The Software 2004 conference in San Francisco played host to a panel of CEOs who opined on the state of the software industry for an audience of 1,100
software executives.

Moderating the panel was Tony Zingale, former president and CEO of Clarify. Panelists included Jim Green, chairman and CEO, Composite Software; Juli
Hanna Farris, founder and CEO, Scalix; Arup Gupta, president Tata Consultancy Services, and Jeff Rodek, chairman and CEO Hyperion Solutions.

Zingale’s first question dealt with growth of the software industry, asking the panel whether it would come from organic, internal growth, or through
mergers and acquisitions (M&A).

The CEO at Hyperion, which reports having 50 percent of its customer base companies in the $500 million range and up, quickly responded.

“If anything we are deciding which products and even customers to kill, not grow.”