The Future of SaaS: Open Source

The Evolution of Open Source and SaaS

Significant transformations have occurred within the open source landscape over the past ten years. Initially centered on philosophical debates concerning software development methodologies and criticisms of proprietary systems, it has evolved into the standard practice for modern software construction, even within established enterprises.

This shift has spurred the development of innovative business strategies. These range from providing professional services for open source implementations to offering proprietary, paid extensions with enhanced features geared towards enterprise-level needs. Increasingly, we are seeing the launch of fully managed, hosted Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) versions of open source products.

TC Sessions: SaaS 2021 – Focusing on Open Source SaaS

At our TC Sessions: SaaS 2021 event, taking place on October 27th, we will be specifically addressing the creation of successful SaaS products built upon open source foundations.

To facilitate this discussion, we are pleased to announce that Puppet CTO Abby Kearns, Kong CEO, President, and Co-founder Augusto “Aghi” Marietti, and Redpoint Ventures Managing Director Jason Warner will be participating.

Expert Perspectives: Abby Kearns (Puppet)

Abby Kearns currently serves as the CTO of Puppet, an IT automation service offering both an open source core and a comprehensive ecosystem of open sourced modules. Prior to Puppet, she held the position of Executive Director at the Cloud Foundry Foundation.

During her time at the Cloud Foundry Foundation, Kearns played a crucial role in guiding one of the largest and most active enterprise open source projects through a period of significant change. Cloud Foundry, originally developed within VMware, became the foundation for several SaaS-like offerings from companies like Pivotal and SUSE.

Expert Perspectives: Augusto Marietti (Kong)

Kong, formerly known as Mashape, exemplifies successful open source commercialization. The core functionalities of its API and microservices management tools are presently available under an open source license.

The company initially open-sourced the Kong API management service in 2015 and has consistently maintained its commitment to open source principles. Recent initiatives include the launch of new open source projects, such as the Kuma control plane, which was subsequently donated to the Cloud Native Computing Foundation.

Kong has secured over $171 million in funding and boasts a valuation of $1.4 billion, serving a diverse clientele including Deutsche Telekom, Papa John’s, and Siemens. Founded in 2009 by Italy-born Marietti, the company first showcased a prototype at the TechCrunch50 conference.

Expert Perspectives: Jason Warner (Redpoint Ventures)

Jason Warner gained prominence through his roles at Heroku and as GitHub’s CTO. Even before transitioning to the venture capital world this summer, he was an active angel investor.

Over the past year, Warner has invested in companies like Magic, Census, Jam, and Sym. These companies either actively develop open source software or utilize it extensively. He will provide valuable insights into the venture capital perspective on the open source industry and the factors influencing investment decisions.

Additional Speakers and Event Details

Beyond our open source discussion, the conference will also feature Google’s Javier Soltero, along with investors Kobie Fuller and Casey Aylward, among others.

We encourage you to join us for what promises to be a stimulating and insightful event.

Secure your pass now to take advantage of early bird pricing before rates increase at the door. We look forward to welcoming you!