The State of Open Con 2023 has just kicked off in London and the EM360 team was there to interview business leaders and industry experts about everything open source. 

Yesterday, we spoke to Bram Wiepjes, CEO of Baserow about the latest trends and biggest challenges for the open-source industry and the future of open-source software within the enterprise landscape. 

Open source alternatives to SaaS tools emerge

When asked about some of the current trends emerging in the open-source space in 2023, Mr Wiepjes said that open-source alternatives to closed-source software are becoming some of the most popular tools for companies around the world. 

“We can see lots of Open-source alternatives to other tools emerging. There’s definitely a market for products like that, you have companies like banks, for example, universities, and governments, Mr Wiepjes explained. 

 “They also want to have access to these powerful SaaS tools but often cannot use them because of strict IT requirements and privacy rules when working with privacy-sensitive data, and they’re not allowed to store it on the servers of those tools.” 

“I definitely see like open source software typically like it's open core because there needs to be a business model around it.” 

“You really see it emerging nowadays to make it accessible for those who cannot use it, who cannot use a typical SaaS product,” Mr Wiepjes added. 

The opportunities for open-source platforms are endless 

When asked about the biggest challenges open-source software platforms face in 2023, Mr Wiepjes said: “it’s difficult finding a business model to keep the open-source community happy.”

But the CEO insisted that the opportunities for open-source platforms greatly outweigh the challenges. 

“I see way more opportunities actually for open source software because there's not just a portion of the market that you can sell through, it's actually a way market you can sell to everyone because it's open source.”

“I definitely see more opportunities than challenges. But yeah, you need to find the right balance with the product that you're building,” Mr Wiepjes explained.