Customer mindset that open source technology is somehow inferior to proprietary software has changed, fuelled by the superiority of Linux as the foundation for innovation. Additionally, the market should expect open source solutions to grow in cloud-based applications, along with the focus on skills related to hybrid systems.
These are key trends behind an increased uptake and application of open source technology within enterprises today says Muggie van Staden, CEO of Obsidian Systems, and his colleague Martin Liebenberg, MSP Team Lead.
Obsidian Systems says open source technology is ubiquitous. The company says it is very difficult to not leverage the potential of open source because the model makes it simple for anyone to adopt, at a minimal cost.
“One only has to ask the question “What percentage of containers on Azure is Linux?” IBM’s acquisition of Red Hat is also a nod to the critical role and influence that open source companies have in the software industry,” says van Staden.
He adds: “It is the communities that continue to work toward building creative solutions for challenges that they are facing at the cutting edge of technology. It is the collective thinking, diversity and contributions that will keep open source at the forefront of ensuring efficient, and best-fit solutions. At today’s pace of business, mission-critical applications require agile solutions that are factoring in multi-cloud, hybrid systems in order to meet the different needs of service providers.”
Liebenberg believes skills in hybrid systems will become essential to any team. “Cloud adoption will dictate the pace of how we manage hybrid systems, automate the infrastructure and ensure that we are monitoring and maintaining these systems to keep the lights on.”
Open source is considered to be an efficient workhorse for the enterprise, with more and more organisations adopting this technology for mission-critical workloads.
“When CentOS announced an early end-of-life date for the open source Linux distribution, in March 2021, the community was a little stunned. However, it didn’t take long to bounce back with 2 new communities with robust solutions to turn to. That is the power of open source, the passion to help make everyone’s world better. Speed is critical in mission-critical workloads. Our clients’ customers are likely to make quick decisions of moving to the competition if their needs are not met immediately. Therefore the needs of our clients’ include speed. A case in point is AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux,” Liebenberg continues.
Van Staden says it is the communities that continue to work toward building creative solutions for challenges that they are facing at the cutting edge of technology. It is the collective thinking, diversity and contributions that will keep open source at the forefront of ensuring efficient, and best-fit solutions.
“At today’s pace of business, mission-critical require agile solutions that are factoring in multi-cloud, hybrid systems in order to meet the different needs of service providers,” he says.
Liebenberg says the company is currently testing out alternatives for its MSP solutions for operating systems and maintenance services as the basic architecture for future-proofing client services.
“The best thing about open source is that you can sandbox in community versions before moving to more secure enterprise versions of those products. The investment is small and the rewards that you reap could be great and easily scalable,” he says.
Going forward both Van Staden and Liebenberg believe when thinking about disruptive technology especially in the data analytics arena, AI, machine learning will continue to mature and become more accessible through open source projects.
It’s a space that many are watching with interest and developing to get the edge over their competitors, the company adds.
For more information, go to: https://obsidian.co.za/
