If you have a proprietary partner is it still open source?

JasperSoft, an open source provider of business intelligence (BI) software, and Talend, which offers open source data integration, are teaming with two proprietary vendors, the Vertica analytic database folks and RightScale cloud management companies, to deliver a BI solution for clouds.

But should this blog be covering it? Is this really an open source story?

Part of me says no.

You have to sign contracts with all four vendors to produce a solution. The result could bring smaller firms into the BI universe, and could even create some BI VARs, but you should compare costs, benefits, and terms to what you would get from a proprietary vendor, not an open source one.

Part of me also says shut up, Dana.

This blog covers open source. Both JasperSoft and Talend qualify. This partnership delivers a BI solution that lowers costs and offers more flexibility. Is that not what open source is all about?

While some analysts consider BI to be "recession proof," that's a function of the underlying technology. I still know of large companies in the Atlanta area that rely on spreadsheets, not customized BI databases, for handling major projects. BI vendors face a learning curve that goes beyond technology, one that has more to do with management training.

So even proprietary rivals of JasperSoft may have something to applaud here. If you can give companies a taste of the technology, without requiring a big investment, that grows the market for everyone. In this case the cloud lowers the market entry point to the ground. Does that make it a fog solution?

Anyway, does this offering make sense from an open source perspective? Is this the future of open source business collaboration? Are hybrids the way to go in the cloud as well as on the road?

The market will decide.