Open source CRM provider SugarCRM’s (News - Alert) CEO Larry Augustin, will participate in a panel discussion titled, “The Future of Open Source: 2010,” at the Open Source Business Conference, or “OSBC,” in San Francisco on Wednesday, March 17. 

OSBC brings together open source users of all levels including developers, IT managers and executives to discuss the state of the open source community and share some of the most current thinking on open source technologies. 

Officials with SugarCRM said that the panel discussion on “The Future of Open Source: 2010” will explore customer motivations for adopting open source software; operational experiences with open source adoption – such as maintenance and cost control; disruptive business models and which market segments are being impacted; as well as many other issues impacting open source adoption in the Enterprise and Government. 

Company officials said that the panelists will also draw from the 2010 Future of Open Source survey and discuss how businesses can continue to boost productivity and foster innovation with open source technologies. 

The panel discussion will be moderated by Michael Skok, general partner, North Bridge Venture Partners and the panelists include Larry Augustin, CEO, SugarCRM; Dries Buytaert, CTO and Co-Founder, Acquia; Jim Whitehurst, CEO, Red Hat (News - Alert) and Tim Yeaton, CEO and president, Black Duck Software.

Recently, SugarCRM  announced keynotes, sponsors and the final agenda for SugarCon 2010, its global customer, partner and developer conference. 

The conference, to be held from April 12-14 at The Palace Hotel in San Francisco, Cali., attendees will learn how cloud computing, social networking and open source applications and market trends can affect, impact and attract and retain customers.

According to SugarCRM officials, Microsoft (News - Alert), Red Hat, Talend and Zend are among the industry players sponsoring the conference, which unites CRM customers and developers with companies and projects committed to building open business applications for the cloud.