The Open Solutions Alliance, a nonprofit industry group that pushes for the adoption and interoperability of open-source software, has named an executive of the giant systems integrator Unisys as its new president.

Anthony Gold, vice president and general manager of open-source business at Unisys, is taking over the role previously held by Dominic Sartorio, an employee of SpikeSource, which makes a platform for testing, packaging and maintaining applications.

"If I had to put it in one sentence, my goal is for the OSA to be seen as a thought leader of open-source solutions in the enterprise," said Gold, who previously served as a board member of the organization.

The group, which was formed in February 2007, also needs to attract more system integrators and large software vendors to the fold, Gold said: "I would love to see IBM join the OSA. I would love to see Red Hat in there. There's a lot that we can do around this when we come together."

It is unclear what led to Sartorio's departure; Gold declined to specifically state the reasons behind the switch. "It's a good time for new leadership with fresh ideas," he said, while praising Sartorio.

In a statement supplied by the OSA, Sartorio expressed "full confidence in the new leadership team's ability to take the OSA to the next level." He did not respond to a request for comment.

Meanwhile, Gold is "an interesting figure, since he has long walked the line between proprietary and open source software," said 451 Group analyst Jay Lyman via e-mail. "He's certainly had an impact driving a significant open source focus for Unisys and there is no doubt he is a believer in open source."

The OSA is also announcing the arrival of four other members:

-- Scott Barnett, chief operating officer of Bluenog, a start up that offers a software package combining content management, BI (business intelligence) and portal technology, will be OSA's marketing chair.

-- Gopi Ganapathy, CEO of Essentia, provider of software and services for commercial open-source companies, will serve as community development chair.

-- Mike Moody, vice president of engineering at the open-source BI vendor Jaspersoft; and Uwe Vielle, a senior architect at Unisys, will work on interoperability issues.