Interactive Ideas eyes open source increase

Open source software distributor Interactive Ideas is branching out and opening up its tools and support across the entire open source stack.

Speaking to CRN after signing open source development tools vendor OpenLogic, Mike Trup, Interactive’s managing director, said it was time for the Red Hat and Novell partner to broaden its horizons.

“As the open source market has grown, our goal is to distribute tools and support all the way up and down the stack,” he said.

“Open source entered the corporate market through Linux. We are looking to blaze the trail throughout both the high and low ends of the market, through JBoss and additional tools, applications and support.”

Interactive Ideas aims to recruit up to 25 partners over the next 12 months on behalf of OpenLogic after being appointed as the vendor’s first UK distributor.

It will target both ISVs that develop open source software internally and VARs that can resell the tools to large corporate customers.

“What SuSE has done in open operating systems, OpenLogic is doing for development tools,” Trup said. “It is giving developers access to sanitised and supported open source development tools.

“We are doing what we can to help open source make inroads into the market, so we are a natural partner for OpenLogic.”

Peter Dawes-Huish, chief executive of VAR LinuxIT, said: “We welcome this move. Both OpenLogic and SpikeSource are making it easier for VARs to promote open source to customers.”

Nigel Wright, sales director at Red Hat VAR Abtech, said: “Open source development tools are something we are looking into, but we are only just getting to grips with Red Hat’s stack, including JBoss.”

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