The various open source communities have been an integral part of computing for over two decades. They provide a platform for development, as well as create a continuous mode of improvement.  However, I believe that the biggest value add from open source is the ability to create flexible extensions and improvements custom tailored to whatever environment it is deployed. Granted, these deployments require specialized expertise, but so do commercial packages- and those packages really do not allow, much less encourage creative enhancements.

Recent studies by Gartner Group and others, indicate that more IT professionals are evaluating and deploying open source resources more effectively than ever before. Not only are they realizing cost savings, they are also reaping the powerful benefits of flexibility, portability and scalability. This trend will continue as more organizations realize, and help co-create, commercial deployments of open sourced platforms and applications.  As development issues are shared the wisdom of crowds emerges, helping IT departments to deliver ongoing organizational value.  Moreover, web based application development continues to grow exponentially, along with improved database management- allowing forward thinking enterprises to push open source to new levels of productivity.  This creates value for all involved in this process- from software developers, system integration experts and ultimately end users.

We are embracing this ongoing challenge brought about by clients' demands for professionally developed, open source based applications.  Furthermore, we believe that the Drupal community thrives on these challenges- to continue to push our knowledge base forward, develop more robust modules and solve the inevitable issues arising from an ever expanding Drupal presence.