The Business of Open Source

This conversation covers: The value that Forter provides, and the types of companies that they work with. Iftah also explains what makes Forter so unique.  The underlying technology that Forter is using, and how they quickly process hundreds of complex backend workflows. Iftah also talks about some of the tools that they are using, including AWS and Apache Storm. How Forter approaches the cloud, a...

This conversation covers: Laying the groundwork for a successful open-source program office (OSPO). Why legal and engineering are usually the two main stakeholders in open-source projects. Why engineering teams tend to struggle at articulating their perspective on open-source. Tobie offers some improvement tips.  How Tobie defines open-source strategy. Tobie also explains the risk of not having an...

The conversation covers:  Tracy’s thoughts on how the relationship between open-source and cloud-native should be described. The advantages and disadvantages to an organization using open-source. Some of the major risks associated with using open-source, and why companies should approach with caution.   Why CI/CD is a rising security concern for open-source organizations. Tracy also provides her t...

The conversation covers:  The main function of an OSPO, and why Comcast has one. How Nithya approaches non-technical stakeholders about open-source.  Where the OSPO typically sits in the organizational hierarchy. The risk of ignoring open-source, or ignoring the way that open-source is consumed in an organization. Why every enterprise today is using open-source in some way or another. The relation...

This conversation covers: The advantages of using a distributed data storage model. How Storj is creating new revenue models for open-source projects, and how the open-source community is responding. The business and engineering reasons why users decide to opt for cloud-native, according to Ben. Viewing cloud-native as a journey, instead of a destination — and some of the top mistakes that people...

The conversation covers:  Josh’s role as CTO of Fugue, a leading cloud security and compliance provider for engineers.  The difference between cloud security and data center security — and why old school approaches to security don’t work in the cloud.  How engineers and security specialists can best communicate with business leaders about how to approach security, and how Fugue can help.  Who shou...

The conversation covers:  The difference between cloud computing and cloud-native, according to AJ Whether it’s possible to have a cloud-native application that runs on-premise  The types of conversations that AJ has with customers, as VP of product. AJ also talks about the different types of customers that DigitalOcean serves. How the needs of smaller teams tend to differ from the needs of enterp...

The conversation covers:  Gou’s role as CTO of Portworx, and how he works with customers on a day to day basis. Common pain points that Gou talks about with customers. Gou explains how he helps customers create agile and cost-effective application development and deployment environments. The types of people that Gou talks to when approaching customers about cloud native discussions. Why customers...

The conversation covers:  Why Kevin helped launch Single Music, where he currently provides SRE and architect duties. Single Music’s technical evolution from Docker Swarm to Kubernetes, and the key reasons that drove Kevin and his team to make the leap. What’s changed at Single Music since migrating to Kubernetes, and how Kubernetes is opening new doors for the company — increasing stability, and...

The conversation covers:  An overview of Ravi’s role as an evangelist — an often misunderstood, but important technology enabler.  Balancing organizational versus individual needs when making decisions. Some of the core motivations that are driving cloud native migrations today.  Why Ravi believes it in empowering engineers to make business decisions.  Some of the top misconceptions about cloud na...

The conversation covers: Some of the pain points and driving factors that led Jón and his partners to launch Garden. Jon also talks about his early engineering experiences prior to Garden. How the developer experience can impact the overall productivity of a company, and   why companies should try and optimize it. Kubernetes shortcomings, and the challenges that developers often face when working...

Some of the highlights of the show include:  The challenges that CERN was facing when storing, processing, and analyzing data, and why it pushed them to think about containerization.  CERN’s evolution from using mainframes, to physical commodity hardware, to virtualization and private clouds, and eventually to containers. Ricardo also explains how the migration to containerization and Kubernetes w...

Highlights from this episode include:  Key market drivers that are causing Cloud Comrade’s clients to containerize applications — including the role that the global pandemic is playing.   The pitfalls of approaching cloud migration with a cost-first strategy, and why Andy doesn’t believe in this approach.  Common misconceptions that can arise when comparing cloud TCO to on-premise infrastructure....

Some highlights of the show include: The company’s cloud native journey, which accelerated with the acquisition of Uswitch.  How the company assessed risk prior to their migration, and why they ultimately decided the task was worth the gamble. Uswitch’s transformation into a profitable company resulting from their cloud native migration. The role that multidisciplinary, collaborative teams played...

Some of the highlights include:  Why Vodafone moved to a cloud native architecture. As Tom explains, the company was struggling to manage operations across more than 20 markets. They also needed to improve the customer experience, and foster customer loyalty.  Why their business and engineering teams were both in favor of cloud native. The benefits of deploying daily operational activities around...

This conversation covers:  Why many businesses are shifting away from analyzing total cloud spend (CapEX vs. OpEX) and are now forecasting spend based around usage patterns. The difference between cloud-native, cloud computing, and operating in the cloud.  The delta that often exists between engineering teams and business stakeholders regarding costs. Travis also offers tips for aligning both part...

Some of the highlights of the show include:  The difference between cloud computing and cloud native. Why operations teams often struggle to keep up with development teams, and the problems that this creates for businesses. How Dave works with operations teams and trains them how to approach cloud native so they can keep up with developers, instead of being a drag on the organization.  Dave’s phil...

This conversation covers: How Frame.io was faced with the decision to be cloud native or cloud-enabled — and the business and technical reasons why Frame.io chose to be cloud native.  How Abhinav successfully built a world class cloud-native security program from the ground up to protect Frame.io users’ sensitive video content. Abhinav also talks about the special security considerations for truly...

In this episode of the Business Cloud Native, host Emily Omier talks with Jon Tirsen, who is engineering lead for storage at Cash App. This conversation focuses on Cash App’s cloud native journey, and how they are working to build an application that is more scalable, flexible, and easier to manage. The conversation covers: How the need for hybrid cloud services and uniform program models led Cash...

Emily and Dejan cover the following points: 8x8’s journey to a leading cloud technology provider. Why 8x8 decided to migrate to Kubernetes, a move that gave them the flexibility to run workloads wherever they want. Dejan’s thoughts on the Kubernetes migration, and how it’s helped the company improve its operations. For example, Kubernetes has helped 8x8 migrate away from several legacy systems. Th...

Some of the highlights of the show include The diplomacy that’s required between software engineers and management, and why influence is needed to move projects forward to completion. Driving factors behind Ygrene’s Kubernetes migration, which included an infrastructure bottleneck, a need to streamline deployment, and a desire to leverage their internal team of cloud experts. Management’s request...

Some highlights of the show include The challenges of operating digital commerce at scale, including the need for resource pooling and resiliency — and how this caused Ant Financial to re-think their infrastructure.  Ant Financial’s former approach to scaling, which was mostly manual, and highly resource-intensive.  How Kubernetes is expediting cloud development for Ant Financial. Haojie’s thought...

Some of the highlights of the show include How containerization enabled Nav to spread roughly 250 virtual machines across multiple environments, while drastically reducing infrastructure spend Travis’s thoughts on buying cloud native software tools versus building them, and what engineers should consider during this process The difficulty of finding security solutions that work inside of a cloud-n...

Some of the highlights of the show include Why Adform decided to move to a cloud native architecture and Kubernetes specifically  Who was the driving force behind the move to Kubernetes? Was the switch purely an engineering decision or did it involve people outside of engineering? Positive and less positive surprises that come with switching to cloud native  Organizational and technical problems E...

About Emily Omier Emily Omier is a content strategy consultant who helps companies leverage content to build thought leadership, increase website traffic, grow their mailing list and book more demos. She has worked with CloudBees, Portworx, Plutora, Armory, and is a regular contributor for The New Stack. She graduated from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and lives in Portland...