The integration of cloud-native, AI, Edge and Linux is growing stronger: SUSE’s CTPO

Businesses are seeing greater value from open-source software, such as improved productivity and reduced operational costs, believes Thomas Di Giacomo, Chief Technology and Product Officer at German open-source firm SUSE. He however believes that only a few models can truly be considered open source, emphasising the need for both innovation and ethical considerations

In a recent conversation with TechCircle, Giacomo states that while open-source adoption in enterprises is not new, in the last 3-4 years, businesses have been running mission-critical workloads and open-source platforms like Linux and Kubernetes. What has probably accelerated is the constant innovation happening in the open-source space

While AI is now a key focus, even before that, there was significant innovation around cloud-native technologies, much of it originating from open-source.  This adoption of open-source innovation has made it even more ubiquitous. “One of the major shifts in the past 12 to 18 months is the increased emphasis on choice and originality, particularly with market consolidation – thereby leading to a shift in the enterprise mindset when it comes to open source adoption,” he said.

Furthermore, geopolitical factors are driving companies to realise the risks of single-vendor dependency. As Giacomo believes, open source offers more choices, providing a better alternative to solely relying on proprietary solutions. Consequently, at SUSE we have observed a shift in customer needs, with companies seeking dual or multi-vendor strategies and diverse technology sources.

As a global company with a diverse portfolio across sectors like defense, railways, and retail, SUSE mitigates economic uncertainties through diversification, said Giacomo. He observes that countries are recognising the liability of over-reliance on other countries, driving a need for sovereignty and control. “At SUSE we are benefitting from this trend as our solutions are designed to be private and secure and enable companies to have more control over their technology decisions,” he said.

Read more: SUSE CEO on India market and why open source will get bigger and richer

Asked how SUSE plans to remain resilient and retain market share amid heightened cloud competition, Giacomo stated that the company has a strong partner network, comprising major North American and Asian hyperscalers, as well as local cloud and managed service providers. He said, “The goal is to expand both the number and scope of these partnerships, ensuring diverse solutions to meet varied customer needs, including the use of local cloud providers for local applications.” He explained with the example of a recently announced partnership with OVHcloud, a European data management company with a presence in India, which allows SUSE to expand its reach and serve more customers globally.

Speaking about some of the key challenges for enterprises in adopting open-source software today, especially with the emergence of AI, he highlighted particularly concerning open data and transparency in model training. “While not directly about AI, the need for open-source to evolve and encompass AI innovations is paramount,” said Giacomo, highlighting the company’s recent partnership with Indian IT major Infosys that simplifies AI adoption through a phased implementation strategy, enabling businesses to test AI models, validate use cases, and scale responsibly.

Giacomo anticipates open source will play an even more significant role in AI, not as a limitation in technology partnerships, but by helping businesses understand their specific use cases and realise the value of AI. “The integration between cloud-native, AI, Edge and Linux is growing stronger,” he said.

Of emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and the metaverse, which heavily rely on the cloud, he believes that open source can standardize fragmented protocols via interfaces. SUSE has already joined the Margo project, which is a Linux Foundation initiative for IoT Edge device interoperability that aims to modernise and simplify IoT at the infrastructure level, he said.

Giacomo also believes open-source and proprietary solutions can coexist. “We've collaborated with infrastructure partners, cloud partners, system integrator partners, software partners, and of course, with other open-source companies. But the reality is that not every company is purely open-source,” he cautioned.

Nonetheless, the company has been supporting and integrating SUSE solutions with closed-source or proprietary technologies for the last 20-25 years.” While we certainly see more and more open-source adoption, we continue to partner with non-open-source solutions when and wherever necessary, developing hybrid models where some parts of a software solution are open-source while others remain proprietary. The language models are a good example of that,” he said.

 Looking ahead 12-18 months, SUSE's roadmap focuses on three key directions: providing choice at all levels, strengthening the integration between cloud-native, AI, Edge, and Linux, and ensuring end-to-end security across the entire technology chain, summed up Giacomo.