Liferay is focused on becoming a dominant force in the open source community.  The company has experienced a tremendous amount of growth and is constantly expanding.  The ServerSide.com article “Liferay Portal: A Positive Community Pushes Positive Growth” provides details about the Liferay North America Symposium and its overall growth.  Staggering statics show just how far Liferay has come.  According to the article the company saw a 55% jump in revenue in 2011 keeping with the double digit growth that the company has been experiencing for sometime.  With such growth Liferay has also hired more employees and now does business in over twelve countries. Though these are definitely impressive feats, Liferay CEO, who gave the symposium opening address, chose to focus on the importance of the open source community.

‘There is more value outside of the company being waited to be unleashed than there is inside,’ said Liferay CEO Bryan Cheung in his opening address.  ‘Open for Business’ is this year’s theme, with the double entendre on the word open being fully intended. As such, Bryan instead emphasized the important role the community plays in Liferay’s success, along with how an open-source approach to software development drives both trust and involvement.

Liferay has openly embraced open source and the importance of community building.  Open source has definitely opened doors for Liferay and they are not shy about admitting the important role it plays.  Jono Bacon, the Ubuntu Community Manager also spoke and he stressed how valuable it is to maintain not only a strong but also a motivated community.  Its no secret that open source works, companies such as LucidWorks have shown this.  However, it is always nice to have a friendly reminder.

April Holmes, October 26, 2012

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