Open Source CRM provider, SugarCRM (News - Alert), has announced keynotes and sponsors for SugarCon 2008, its global customer and developer conference, February 6-8, 2008, at the Dolce Hayes Mansion in San Jose.

 

Research In Motion, Microsoft (News - Alert), Oracle, Sun, MySQL, Talend and Levementum are among the firms sponsoring the conference, which is designed for users, developers and managers of CRM projects. Space is limited, so please visit http://www.sugarcrm.com/crm/events/sugarcon/register.html for more information and registration.

 

The kickoff keynote, "The End of the Beginning: Open Source Moves into the Mainstream," by SugarCRM Co-Founder and CEO John Roberts (News - Alert), will look at how open source is transforming the software industry and what it means for the future of CRM.

Jonathan Schwartz, CEO of Sun Microsystems (News - Alert), will speak about Sun's role as the largest commercial open source contributor and how its recent acquisition of MySQL further positions the company as a platform for the Web economy.

 

"There is a radical transformation going on," SugarCRM CEO John Roberts told industry observer Nathan Eddy recently.

 

The leader of the largest open source CRM company said he thinks Sun Microsystems' acquisition of MySQL was a "bold move" for Sun and a "win-win deal" for both companies: "This destroys the proprietary thinking Silicon Valley has been based on," he told Eddy.

 

Roberts characterized Sun as the "ideal" company to acquire MySQL. "Sun is a company that understands how to run very successful open source projects," he told Eddy. "I have a suspicion [Sun CEO] Jonathan [Schwartz] and Marten will lead the company on the ideals MySQL was based on."

 

Other SugarCon keynotes include "The Real Future of Technology" by Forbes Senior Editor Daniel Lyons, a.k.a. "Fake Steve Jobs (News - Alert);" and the effervescently perspicacious Paul Greenberg, author of the best-selling book, "CRM at the Speed of Light: Essential Customer Strategies for the 21st Century," who will look at Web 2.0, and its ability to accelerate collaboration between companies and customers.

 

Roberts believes that open source and the Internet are making it possible for developers to collaborate on software globally and reduce the cost of distribution, which is translates into lower costs for the customer. "The companies of the lock-in mentality are not going to be able to compete. In five to 10 years, they won't be around," he predicts. "I think this is the future of software, and another proof point that the industry is changing for the better," he says.