From huge growth at Opengear to new partnerships at Zarafa, this month has been a busy one in the open source channel. And it got busier last week when Liferay, a vendor specializing in open source portal and CMS software, announced expansions of its own. Here’s the scoop …

But first, a quick recap of Liferay: Launched in 2000, the company offers one of the most popular open source solutions for portal software, which provides the back-end for intranets and extranets around the world. It boasts 3 million downloads and 250,000 deployments, a feat recognized by Water & Stone, which named Liferay’s product the most popular Java CMS in 2010.

The company also enjoys praise from Gartner, which listed it among the “Magic Quadrant for Horizontal Portal Products in 2010” — a particularly impressive distinction given that Liferay was the only open source solution in its class.

Partnerships and Expansions

The most recent news out of the Liferay camp centers on expanding its engagement with other parties in the open source channel. The company recently launched a Community Leadership Program, through which 12 leading members of Liferay’s development community will have a more direct say in the organization’s decisions and direction.

While some vendors might be reluctant to allow third-party programmers greater influence over their operations, Liferay is making a very wise move in a channel where keeping development partners happy is at least as important as keeping users happy.

Even more recently, Liferay on March 23, 2011, announced a platinum partnership with Triton, which focuses on the government channel. This is also a positive move for Liferay, given the eagerness of government organizations to explore open source alternatives to the proprietary solutions on which they have traditionally relied — an imperative encouraged not only by the potential for cost savings, but also by mandates that government agencies, for reasons of transparency and security, move away from closed source platforms. The Triton partnership will help ensure Liferay’s consideration by government organizations focused on open source solutions.

It’s clear that Liferay is a dynamic force in the open source channel and an excellent example of the way open source technology can be leveraged to provide business solutions while also advancing the goals of the open source ecosystem as a whole. We’ll stay tuned as Liferay continues to evolve.

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