17 years ago I got my big break, and I was lucky enough to cut my teeth in network management working with some of the best colleagues and customers I could have asked for.

Back then we had a dream to make a network management tool that customers could really use and get value for. Mostly the products available were just a massive consultancy exercise in disguise. Along the way with input from thousands of really smart people, both in my direct team and also in the user base we built a great product.

But the dream soured. What began as a revolution ended up becoming that which we set out to fix: zero innovation, far from zero cost.

Which is why we are back, and why we need you as a part of this. RiverMuse aims to put the community at the centre of the next big wave in management technology. It is not good enough to try and assemble the old gang back underneath one roof; it needs all of you who care about a continuing revolution in systems and network management to make sure that we can produce the best and most innovative way to manage networks now and forever. And maybe as an open source project we can pay back a little of the good fortune we had all those years ago.