Blog
July 30, 2025
One of the great benefits of using open source software is the flexibility that it offers to developers and organizations to use various open source technologies, complementary components, many options to integrate with other software, and above all, independence from vendors. It offers freedom from being locked into a specific proprietary vendor’s technology, support, and contract.
That said, the typical enterprise organization is using many pieces of open source software within their stack, each with varying support needs. For some organizations, that means managing different support vendors for each piece of open source software and, ultimately, managing the costs and challenges of working with those vendors.
In this blog, we look at the modern realities of using open source in the enterprise, why open source vendor consolidation is important, and how shifting to a vendor-neutral technical support strategy can reduce the complexity of infrastructure maintenance.
Strategic Open Source Adoption
At its core, OSS refers to software whose source code is openly available for modification, enhancement, and redistribution.
This transparency enables rapid innovation, security validation, and collaborative development. Many OSS projects operate under copyleft licenses, which require modifications to be distributed under the same terms — an important consideration for companies navigating commercial vs. community open source models.
Major corporations such as Google, Microsoft, Apple, Meta, and IBM are using OSS, as well as as contributing to certain key projects. These investments often align with initiatives like ecosystem expansion, developer engagement, and shared infrastructure strategies.
Back to topOpen Source as a Business
Cloudera, Confluent, Databricks, and MongoDB are prime examples of companies that have successfully commercialized OSS using two distinct business models: Software as a Service (SaaS) and Open Core Software. Both of these approaches can be combined or augmented with professional services and technical support.
Software as a Service
The software-as-a-service (SaaS) business model involves open source software that is hosted, maintained, and easily available for consumption. Users of open source software under this model do not have to worry about installations, deployments, and infrastructure issues.
Open Core Software
The second category refers to what is called open core software, where vendors add proprietary features or tools to open source software (often geared toward enterprise use cases) and sell it via subscription, often with premium support included.
Why do organizations opt to pay for commercial versions of open source technologies they could deploy for free? We asked about this in the most recent State of Open Source Report, and the top response was "professional support and maintenance" (44%) followed by "additional features" (25%).
With both of these models, there are two common pitfalls that organizations should be aware of: juggling too many vendors (and support contracts) and vendor lock-in. Avoiding vendor-lock in was the second most cited reason for choosing OSS in the State of Open Source Report, so organizations seem to already be aware of that risk. Vendor sprawl, though, can present just as many challenges.
Back to topThe Problem of Vendor Sprawl
As we have seen with all types of technology over the years, there are periods of expansion and there are periods of consolidation. Open source software is well into an expansion phase and every day there are more open source projects — just look at the CNCF cloud-native and the AI & Data Foundation landscapes for a small sample.
A byproduct of this is that organizations are using more open source software and, consequently, contracting with more commercial open source vendors. The most recent State of Open Source Report found that about a third (32%) of large enterprises (>5K employees) work with more than 10 vendors to support their open source, and a little over a quarter (27%) work with 20+ vendors. That's a lot of different vendors to manage and can lead to finger-pointing when something goes wrong, delaying resolution.
Back to topThe Benefits of Open Source Vendor Consolidation
As part of moving toward a more mature open source strategy, CIOs, CISOs, and IT executives would be wise to pursue vendor consolidation initiatives — something that benefited the largest software companies 10 or 20 years ago (e.g., consolidation into all Microsoft, or Oracle, or IBM software products).
The benefits of vendor consolidation include:
- Reduced Costs: Fewer vendors, streamlined processes, and optimized resource allocation can lead to significant cost savings.
- Improved Efficiency: Consolidation simplifies workflows, reduces complexity, and allows teams to focus on core tasks rather than managing disparate tools and processes.
- Enhanced Security: A more centralized approach to security management can improve vulnerability detection, response, and overall security posture.
- Better Collaboration: Consolidation can break down silos between teams and departments, facilitating better communication and collaboration.
- Simplified Operations: A unified platform or streamlined processes can make it easier to manage and maintain open source software.
Now the question becomes, how can organizations consolidate open source vendors and get the best technical support for the OSS inside their mission-critical applications? (Hint: it's also how they can avoid vendor lock-in.)
Back to topMaking the Shift to a Vendor-Neutral OSS Support Provider
A key reason to go with commercial versions of open source software is access to technical support — to have someone to contact when something goes wrong or is not working properly. But what if you could get SLA-backed support that was not attached to a commercial vendor?
That's where independent, vendor-neutral technical support for open source software comes in, as a viable alternative to commercial support that is tied to proprietary platforms. As an example, today’s container and container orchestration technologies (mainly Kubernetes) are being deployed in production environments all over the world with or without commercial support.
An increasing number of organizations are discovering that it’s possible to skip commercial and open core solutions from companies like Cloudera and Confluent altogether and use only versions from the open source community, paired with support from third parties like OpenLogic.
Vendor-neutral technical support requires technical expertise, not just for troubleshooting issues, but also to provide expert advice on architecture, configuration, and scalability of production environments. Assistance on how to use open source software at scale and how to integrate different technology stacks becomes very important. The bottom line is, if organizations need technical support for their open source, they no longer have to lock-in with multiple vendors and deploy commercial solutions; they can consolidate support for their entire OSS stack with one vendor-neutral provider.
Back to topFinal Thoughts
Vendor consolidation for open source support also brings another great benefit — the ability to investigate issues across multiple open source technologies. A business can troubleshoot across the software stack without the complexity of talking to multiple vendors that will only support their corresponding piece of functionality and point fingers at each other.
As mentioned in the previous section, another trend we’re seeing related to vendor consolidation is more and more organizations migrating off of commercial and open core solutions and deploying 100% open source alternatives. The money they save by not paying for commercial licenses can then be reallocated to other infrastructure investments. For these companies, getting unbiased guidance while receiving the same level of support they are used to is crucial to not disrupting business operations.
Ready to Consolidate Your Open Source Support?
Perforce OpenLogic offers expert, 24/7 support for over 400 open source technologies and counting. Instead of juggling multiple vendors, why not partner with one that can support your entire OSS stack? Click the links below to learn more about what we support and why we're trusted by top companies around the world.
Additional Resources
- Whitepaper - Taking an Open Source Approach to Big Data Management
- Blog - 5 Reasons Why Companies Choose OpenLogic for OSS Support
- Blog - Are You Locked In With Commercial Open Source Software?
- Blog - How to Build Your Open Source Strategy
- Blog - Community OSS, Open Core, and Commercial OSS: Understanding the Key Differences
- Solution - Open Source Service Bundles