Managing open-source at scale across hybrid and multicloud environments – News

Open-source software has become the backbone of modern application infrastructure. From distributed databases to event streaming platforms, technologies such as Apache Cassandra, Apache Kafka and PostgreSQL increasingly power the digital services that organizations rely on every day. But as adoption accelerates, a new operational challenge is emerging: managing these technologies at production scale.

According to theCUBE Research data, 61% of enterprise environments now operate in hybrid deployment models, while 32% of organizations report that it takes hours to become aware of production issues. That combination of infrastructure complexity and delayed operational visibility creates risk for business-critical applications.

In the latest episode of the AppDevANGLE podcast, Paul Nashawaty, principal analyst at theCUBE Research, spoke with Ben Slater, vice president and general manager of Instacluster at NetApp Inc., about how enterprises are navigating the growing operational demands of open-source infrastructure.

“Open source works really well when you first download it and get started,” Slater said. “But if you’re using it that way, you’re taking on responsibility for solving every issue yourself.”

The open-source expertise gap

For many organizations, the appeal of open source is clear: flexibility, innovation velocity and freedom from proprietary licensing models. However, operating distributed systems in production requires deep expertise that is difficult to hire and even harder to maintain internally.

Teams running technologies, such as Cassandra, Kafka or OpenSearch, must manage complex distributed architectures, handle upgrades and patches, monitor performance and respond quickly to incidents. Without dedicated specialists, troubleshooting issues can require diving into the codebase itself.

“There’s usually no one with an obligation to help you,” Slater explained. “You can file a bug or post on a mailing list, but that’s not the same as having someone on call with a critical-response service-level agreement.”

This skills gap is increasingly common. TheCUBE Research finds that 67% of organizations are hiring generalists rather than specialists, often because the talent simply isn’t available.

For enterprises operating business-critical systems, that creates a difficult tradeoff between the flexibility of open source and the reliability expectations of production environments.

The challenge of multi-technology infrastructure

The complexity multiplies as organizations adopt more specialized tools.

Modern application architectures rarely rely on a single platform. Instead, they combine distributed databases, streaming pipelines, search engines and workflow orchestration frameworks into interconnected systems. Each technology typically requires its own operational expertise, vendor relationships and management interfaces. Slater noted that consolidating these technologies under a single operational model can significantly reduce that complexity.

“You’re negotiating one contract, working with one vendor and using a consistent interface across technologies and clouds,” he said. “That consistency makes a big difference once you’re actually operating these systems.”

Platforms that support multiple open-source technologies also provide consistent APIs, automation frameworks and support processes. This unified operational model can simplify everything from deployment automation to incident response.

Why true open source still matters

Even as managed services grow in popularity, the question of true open source versus proprietary variations remains important for many organizations. Some managed offerings modify open-source projects with proprietary extensions, which can introduce a form of vendor lock-in. Slater argues that maintaining compatibility with the original open-source projects preserves long-term flexibility.

“We often talk about open source saving licensing costs, but the bigger benefit is strategic flexibility,” he said.

As applications become core to nearly every business function, organizations increasingly want the ability to move workloads, modify software or shift infrastructure providers if necessary.

“Your IT environment is often the business itself,” Slater said. “Using true open source ensures you’re not beholden to a single vendor for something that critical.”

Portability in a hybrid world

That flexibility is especially important in hybrid and multicloud environments.

Although the term “multicloud” is widely used, Slater noted that most workloads typically run in one location at a time. What organizations want is the option to move those workloads when necessary.

That capability can serve multiple purposes, including:

• Deploying applications closer to customers
• Maintaining negotiating leverage with hyperscale cloud providers
• Supporting cloud repatriation strategies
• Optimizing infrastructure costs

“The key is keeping the ability to move,” Slater said. “If you can credibly say you could relocate a workload next month, that becomes a real bargaining chip.”

For organizations navigating cloud economics and FinOps pressures, that portability is becoming increasingly valuable.

Bridging the reliability gap

Beyond deployment flexibility, enterprises also need operational maturity. TheCUBE Research data shows that while many organizations can deploy software quickly, operational awareness and reliability often lag behind. The ability to detect issues quickly, respond effectively and maintain compliance standards is critical when open-source platforms underpin customer-facing applications.

This includes capabilities such as:

• 24/7 monitoring and alerting
• Vulnerability and CVE management
• Performance tuning
• Compliance and security validation
• Defined service-level agreements

Slater emphasized that reaching production-grade reliability takes far longer than launching an initial application release.

“Getting to the first release is one milestone,” he said. “But building a system that consistently meets production SLAs is a much longer journey.”

Managed platforms that specialize in operating these technologies can bring operational practices that have been refined across many deployments.

“You’re not learning those lessons for the first time in production,” Slater added.

How adoption often evolves

In practice, organizations often begin with a single technology before expanding.

Instacluster initially built its platform around Cassandra, a distributed database known for its scalability and availability requirements. As customers became comfortable with that operational model, many expanded their use to include other technologies, such as Kafka or OpenSearch.

“It’s common to see customers start with one technology and then bring the rest of their stack onto the platform once they see the value,” Slater said.

This pattern reflects a broader shift across enterprise application infrastructure: As systems become more distributed and specialized, operational consistency becomes just as important as the technologies themselves.

The bottom line

Open source remains central to modern software development, but the operational demands of running distributed infrastructure are growing quickly.

As hybrid deployments expand and application architectures become more complex, many organizations are reevaluating how they manage the technologies behind their most critical services. The question is no longer whether to use open source. Instead, it is how to operate it responsibly, reliably and at scale.

For many teams, the answer may lie somewhere between the freedom of open source and the operational maturity of managed platforms.

Here’s the full conversation with theCUBE Research’s Paul Nashawaty and Ben Slater, part of the AppDevANGLE podcast series:

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