|
Open Source Gaining
Ground in Egypt & Worldwide
|
Global VoIP leader
Mark Spencer speaks
at OpenCraft
technical seminar
about the benefits
of open source IT
solutions for
Egyptian businesses
CAIRO, 27 December
2006 – Open source
software and its
specific application
to internet-enabled
telephony could make
a powerful change
for Egyptian
businesses, asserted
web telephony leader
Mark Spencer at an
OpenCraft technical
seminar in Cairo.
Founder and
President of the
American company
Digium, Mr Spencer
has recently been
deemed the most
influential
executive worldwide
in the field of
web-enabled voice
transmissions,
formally termed
Voice over Internet
Protocol or VoIP.
This cutting-edge
lecture, presented
in conjunction with
the Egyptian
GNU/Linux Users
Group (EGLUG), is
part of a technical
seminar series led
by Egyptian open
source company
OpenCraft.
A provider of open
source business
applications and
technical consulting
to leading
organizations like
Al Futtaim,
PriceWaterhouseCoopers,
and Reuters,
OpenCraft also has a
community-minded aim
to share knowledge
and foster new
ideas, hence this
popular series.
OpenCraft’s seminars
regularly draw some
of Egypt’s keenest
IT professionals,
attracted by the
challenging topics
and high caliber of
speakers.
Mr Spencer, an
Egyptian-American,
has contributed most
prominently to the
global VoIP movement
with his product
Asterisk. It’s a
free software
application that
enables basic phone
calls on analog or
VoIP systems, plus a
full suite of
additional
business-ready
functionality such
as voicemail, caller
ID, and
teleconferencing. In
telecom jargon, it’s
a private branch
exchange, or PBX,
since it facilitates
internal or private
calling within an
organization as well
as external calls.
According to Forbes
magazine, Asterisk
can help businesses
cut their phone
costs by as much as
80%.
Mr Spencer is
accomplishing his
VoIP revolution by
means of that other
hot topic: open
source development.
Open source refers
to software that is
freely available and
for which the code
can be readily
modified by
volunteer
developers, with
Linux operating
systems as perhaps
the best-known
example. It’s an
alternative to
commercial software
for which the code
is often a closely
guarded corporate
secret. The
collaborative model
is key to Asterisk’s
success, since tens
of thousands of
volunteer developers
worldwide have added
to Spencer’s
original code to
create so much
powerful
functionality.
Mr Spencer firmly
believes that open
source is a means to
stronger, more
innovative
technology
solutions. “It frees
customers from being
locked in to a
specific vendor,
architecture,
protocol, or even
upgrade path, so the
real winner is the
customer. This is
perhaps even more
important in Egypt,
where getting locked
in to a proprietary
system can mean
having to stick with
that supplier even
if costs skyrocket
or service starts to
slump. Open source
gives you a
survivability that
is really
unmatched.”
Open source is
steadily making
inroads into Egypt,
with firms such as
OpenCraft handling
multiple projects
here. “Open source
has definitely
achieved credibility
in large-scale
organizations, both
corporate and
government, in
recent years,”
stated OpenCraft
Co-Founder and Chief
Executive Officer
Rady Fahmy.
“It is a clear,
viable, and often
cost-saving
alternative for
leaders that are
looking to hold
better control of
the technology that
is so critical for
their business’s
survival and
growth.”
“From NGOs to
multi-national
corporations,
leading
organizations are
trusting open source
solutions to be the
strong, sustainable
backbone of their
infrastructure,” Mr
Fahmy continued.
“This has been true
for years now in
areas such as
enterprise
infrastructure and
web-based business
applications, and
now, thanks to
people like Mark
Spencer, we’re
seeing it take hold
in telephony as
well. Businesses
right here in Egypt
can definitely
benefit now from the
innovation and
stability of open
source, and the
possibilities will
only increase in the
future.”
Note to Editors
About OpenCraft
(www.open-craft.com)
OpenCraft provides
creative IT
solutions using
industry-proven open
source software
systems. Already a
chief authority in
the regional open
source movement
since its founding
in 2004, OpenCraft’s
high caliber staff,
agile project
management and
superior
problem-solving
ensure that its
clients receive
professional
software services
and solutions that
add real business
value. OpenCraft
serves prominent
international
clients such as
PriceWaterhouseCoopers
and Reuters, as well
as leading regional
players including
Dubai-based
Al-Futtaim/Hussein
Choucri,
Alexandria-based
Kabo, and the
pan-Arab Sanabel
microfinance
network. The company
is financially
backed by the
venture capital
Technology
Development Fund.
|
|
|
