Open Source Funding Signals CMS Shakeup

The last few years have seen a ton of movement in the open source software market. And the recent string of acquisitions are sure to shake up the business of content management.If you look at where the money's flowing, you'll find a lot of folks are betting on open source software that helps businesses push out content in real time. Call it whatever flavor or decimal point you want (CM 2.0, e2.0), but if you're a fast mover in content management, you're popular these days.

In fact, I spoke with Alfresco's CEO John Powell last week and he confirmed just that, remarking, "demand for the the company's open source ECM services are boiling over." If you don't believe Powell, you might want to ask SAP Ventures, Accel Partners, and Mayfield Fund, as they just wrote a check for $9 million to help Alfresco battle ECM incumbents like IBM and Oracle.

The other interesting one was Automattic, the company behind the popular WordPress blogging platform. If I'm a betting man, much of that $30 million infusion (Series B Round) will go to making the platform more appealing to the corporate set.

Another company, Six Apart, has moved in that direction for some time, recently making a stronger push with its Movable Type 4.1 platform.

If companies like Automattic, Six Apart, and Alfresco can carve off even a small percentage of corporate America's Web content budgets, watch out.