I find it somewhat ironic that some companies have grown using open source software and open standards in private, and yet it come the time to release their product they decry that they don't do it as an open source or standard. Some even decry them as being evil, and that they could mean the end of everything.
They don't seem to understand, or choose to ignore, the fact that making their code open and able to run on open standards they actually strength their position. Mainly because making keeping it that way helps to be able to concentrate their efforts on the areas that add value, and having some of the low priority development done outside the company.
On the open standard side, it gives a larger audience the chance to run the product. Since the standard you build your product to run on is freely available for everyone to implement on their system, it makes it possible for your product to be used by a wider audience since they know it will run on it without a fuss.
And if there is a way you can improve the standard, you can put it in it. This benefits everyone, since it makes the standard better, easier to use, more secure or stable.
These two factors free valuable resources on your company to work on what's really important to be useful to your users, adding value and features that actually useful to them. By doing so, you build loyalty on your users.
This loyalty will result not only them buying your products, but will make them happy to recommend them to others for use.
One unintended, but valuable, consequence is that it builds trust on everyone that work on the project or uses it. By being transparent on how your product works, and what the standards do, means that users can trust you and the code you give them.
Openness is a virtue that pays in the long run, and that all like to have.
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