IP Telephony

In the world of open source, it seems like a contradiction in terms for a company focused on advancing open source communications solutions to also be at work generating revenue. As difficult as this balance may seem, that is exactly what Digium (News - Alert) strives to do, and so far has been quite successful in the process.

 

To more thoroughly understand the company’s strategic initiatives, Rich Tehrani (News - Alert), TMC President and Editor-in-Chief spoke with Danny Windham, Digium CEO. Their conversation was captured in a podcast interview.

 

As a sponsor and maintainer of Asterisk (News - Alert), Digium must develop strategic initiatives in order to advance the Asterisk movement, while also generating revenue. Windham was brought in a year ago to ensure that the company supports the developer community while growing profits at the same time.

 

Windham shared with Tehrani that while Digium does want to focus on effectively driving revenues, it is essential that Asterisk succeed in order for Digium to succeed.

 

Fortunately, according to Windham, open source is not a passing fad. The Asterisk project is somewhat unusual in that there are people all over the world seeking to contribute to it. Asterisk itself was developed by Mark Spencer (News - Alert) with the aid of a community of collaborating developers who each contributed value to the project.

 

If past history is any indication, companies across the globe will continue to adopt Asterisk and open source communications solutions. Those companies considered to be progressive thinkers are on the forefront of open source, not only embracing the technology, but adopting and implementing open source solely, contributing to the efforts to advance its initiatives.

 

Windham spent some time sharing with Tehrani the value that Digium can add for those organizations that choose to download Asterisk. This powerful open source technology can provide significant functionality, and Digium provides products that channel that functionality into useful solutions to advance the initiatives of any organization. In doing so, the company adds value not only to Asterisk, but also to its users.

 

The emergence of Web 2.0 has expanded the thinking of Digium and the company has strived to expand Asterisk in a Web 2.0 world. As a result, Digium solutions are now considered more of an engine that enables developers to build solutions that work seamlessly with Asterisk.

 

Windham also spent some time discussing his company’s annual event Astricon. He reiterated that after the demise of the company’s current conference partner [referring to PulverMedia] Digium has decided to handle the event in its entirety.

 

Windham stressed that while the management of the event may have changed, the power of its presentation and offerings will stay the same.

 

Windham says the event is worth waiting for, so keep your eyes and ears open for more information moving into the summer months.

 

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