Black Duck Software (from: jeff)
http://sapventures.typepad.com/main/2005/06/black_duck_soft.html
We recently invested in Black Duck Software, I asked my partner Jen Scholze to write something about what led her to do the deal.
—-
Recently SAP Ventures invested in Black Duck Software - another company gaining customer traction by surfing the perfect storm drivers of open source use and compliance. The company enables software license compliance management and early customer wins have been in two key areas.
Black Duck gives companies a platform to actually use open source software in their development process, versus avoiding open source components because of lengthy and painful approval processes. Secondly, Black Duck’s solution allows companies to scan their software code to reveal what developers have actually been putting into their software solutions. I have talked with senior management at a range of software companies who tell me they "have very strict procedures for open source and they they know all the open source that is in their product." Many of these same companies are surprised, and alarmed, to discover that these processes are not driving the behavior they they believe they are. A dramatic underscoring of the risk was learning of large companies that have stopped shipment of product until they could verify compliance of embedded software licenses. At this point not only is revenue negatively impacted (SOP 98-9 dictates that revenue is recognized when GA product is physically shipped), but it’s also a regulated disclosure issue.
I really like the smart thinking and hard work behind this company and believe they have hit on an area that will be very important to the software industry going forward. As software development becomes more about reusing code than starting from scratch the issue of software compliance management and open source use throughout the enterprise will drive the need for more automation tools to help track and comply wiht licenses to avoid the risks of product delays and/or liability arising from non-compliance.