OVM is "Open" for Business

Open things are just curiosities until the ecosystem figures out how to turn them into money.  Java and Linux are good examples of that.  When they first hit the "open" space, they were interesting technical solutions to interoperability (Java) and breaking the proprietary operating system monopoly (Linux).  Its only when companies started wrapping products and services around them that they really electrified their respective ecosystems.  The same thing is happening right now for the OVM.

The openness of the OVM was the jumpstart the functional verification ecosystem needed (see figure below).  That concept alone piqued interests, but the fact that the suppliers for more than 2/3 of the functional verification simulators were jointly developing it brought users by the thousands to the OVMWorld website.  Judging from the hundreds of active threads in the forums, engineers at all experience levels started using OVM.  Just like Java and Linux before it, the questions being asked drew facilitators -- those members of the ecosystem that provide value beyond the suppliers.  We can see offers of training, services, verification IP, and more in those threads and, for sure, there are hundreds of engagements happening privately on the arc between facilitators and customers. 

So it really feels like the OVM ecosystem is alive.  But how do we really know? 

One measure is the amount of blog chatter coming from the ecosystem.  I track that with Google alerts and the Google RSS reader and have hits every day.  Another way is to ping the ecosystem itself.  I tried that last week by setting up an "OVM Professionals Network" on LinkedIn.

In one week more than 60 individuals joined a group formed around the concept of the OVM as a catalyst for business.  As a self-avowed OVM proponent, I joined to help bring the ecosystem together and get more business flowing for everyone.

What's your story?  Why are you a member of the OVMWorld or the new LinkedIn OVM Professionals Network?  How are you turning the OVM into money for your company?

=Adam Sherilog