The Open Group is in financial and leadership crisis again. Joseph De Feo, President and CEO, is now leaving "to focus on his other business interests", according to a confidential letter to members only. He left his job as IT supremo at Barclays but failed to deliver on his grandiose ambitions. The PR spin is that De Feo "re-aligned the company with 21 century technology issues" but the Group "may no longer have a large research and development function". The Group intends to concentrate on what it terms its core competencies like testing and branding, which has been successful.

However, suggesting that it will continue "licensing open technologies we have developed" is a bold statement that will increase the ire of those who developed much of the technology outside the Open Group (including Unix). The financial crisis results from the loss of several key members, but their exact status is not clear from the web site. The logos of three of the former board members and major financial supporters (HP, IBM and Novell) have been removed, although they are listed in the membership list. Allen Brown, the COO, is acting President. ®