Rather than looking to open source software solely for cost cutting, enterprise customers should take a broader look at the free software and bring in community-built applications in areas where it best meets business demands, a panel of CIOs agreed.

The panelists discussed their use of Linux and open source software during the CIO Summit Tuesday at the LinuxWorld Conference & Expo. The invitation-only Summit is a first for the conference that is aiming to attract higher-level IT executives as Linux and open source software move into more critical business roles in the enterprise. The conference runs through Thursday at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

Insurance and financial services giant Nationwide, for example, has combined Linux and virtualization to streamline its data center environment, a move that is expected to result in $15 million in savings during the next three years.

“But cost cutting isn’t the only thing we’re after,” says Guru Vasudeva, associate vice president and chief architect at Nationwide, based in Columbus, Ohio. “Delivering capabilities faster is what we’re after.”

Vasudeva was one of three CIOs who discussed their use of open source software and answered questions from a handful of peers. Curtis Edge, CIO at Boston-based The Christian Science Monitor and Michael Gallagher, global manager of enterprise architecture at ABN Amro, based in Amsterdam, joined Vasudeva during the 75-minute panel discussion.

All three agreed that cost-savings is just a small part of the open source story now that Linux has proven itself in enterprise environments. The focus today is more on finding the right software to fit a business need, whether it is open source or proprietary.

The Christian Science Monitor, for instance, is in the middle of revamping its Web site with open source software, primarily for flexibility, Edge says. He says he regularly weighs open source software against comparable proprietary offerings. The media company also is bringing in Alfresco, an open-source content management firm, and is looking at open source alternatives in network monitoring, Edge says.

Edge and the other panelists urged enterprises not to pigeon-hole open source software, but rather to look at it as just another piece in an overall software portfolio that includes commercial pieces, as well.

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