Osvaldo Spadano | Akoova | Unbound Commerce: Harness the Power of Open Source!
Summary
TLDRJoseph Russell, Strategy Director at JH, introduces the business track of a conference focusing on e-commerce and innovation. He emphasizes the importance of open-source software, citing its role in driving innovation, creating startups, and building communities. The keynote by Aussie, CEO of a managed Magento Cloud hosting service, discusses the benefits of open-source for businesses, including freedom to innovate, lack of vendor lock-in, and the ability to leverage AI and data effectively. The talk highlights the preference of experienced CTOs for best-of-breed solutions over bundled offerings, advocating for agility and the exploration of new possibilities in the digital landscape.
Takeaways
- π€ Joseph Russell is the MC for the business track at this event, introducing speakers and sessions.
- π There are 10 sessions today with more merchants than ever, sharing their stories of success during challenging times.
- π The first speaker on the business track is Aussie, CEO and founder of Aouva, a managed Magento Cloud hosting provider.
- π‘ Aussie emphasizes the importance of open source in driving innovation, creativity, and removing corporate barriers.
- π€ Open source is highlighted as crucial for AI development, with companies like Meta, Elon Muskβs Grok, and Mistral AI using open source models.
- π Open source software offers freedom from vendor lock-in, allowing developers to modify, enhance, and adapt the software.
- π Open source significantly contributes to the economy, with over 100 million developers using GitHub and substantial investments in the UK.
- π Retail IT leaders view open source as secure, with plans to increase its use for digital transformation and better security.
- π Open source versus closed source and bundling versus unbundling are key considerations in software solutions, with unbundling fostering innovation.
- πΌ Experienced CTOs prefer best-of-breed approaches, leveraging the latest technologies and avoiding vendor lock-in to innovate and excel.
Q & A
Who is the main speaker and what is his role at the event?
-The main speaker is Joseph Russell, who is the strategy director at JH and the MC for the business track in the main auditorium.
How many sessions are planned for the day?
-There are 10 sessions planned for the day.
What options are available for attendees who are not interested in the business track?
-Attendees not interested in the business track can attend the technical track upstairs or mingle in the marketplace.
Who is the first speaker on the business track, and what is his background?
-The first speaker on the business track is Aussie, the CEO and founder of Aouva, a managed Magento cloud hosting company. He has over three decades of industry experience and is an expert in lean thinking for e-commerce and technology.
What is the key theme at the Aouva stand this year?
-The key theme at the Aouva stand this year is 'Open for Life'.
What does the speaker say about the pace of innovation and its relation to AI?
-The speaker mentions that the pace of innovation is accelerating faster than ever, especially with the launch of ChatGPT, and that innovation is happening everywhere.
How does the speaker relate lean thinking to open source and innovation?
-The speaker shares that small teams using lean product and process development can outperform large R&D teams, and that open source fosters innovation by removing corporate barriers and encouraging creativity.
What are some of the benefits of open source software mentioned in the speech?
-Open source software provides freedom to innovate, freedom from vendor lock-in, freedom to collaborate, and freedom of choice. It significantly contributes to the economy and is considered a secure and impactful technology.
What is the speaker's perspective on bundling and unbundling in the tech industry?
-The speaker explains that bundling combines multiple products and services into one offering, often used by large corporations to protect their market dominance. Unbundling, on the other hand, allows for specialization and innovation by selecting the best tools for specific needs.
What advice does the speaker give regarding data ownership and the choice of technology solutions?
-The speaker advises that data ownership is crucial, emphasizing the importance of knowing who owns the data, where it is, and how to access it. He suggests that open source software is the safe choice for ensuring control over data.
Outlines
π Opening Remarks and Housekeeping
Joseph Russell introduces himself as the strategy director at JH and MC for the day. He outlines the agenda with 10 sessions, more merchants than ever, and the opportunity to hear success stories despite recent challenges. Attendees can choose between the business and technical tracks, with flexibility to switch sessions or mingle. The first speaker, Aussie, CEO and founder of a managed Magento Cloud hosting company, is introduced.
π Introduction to Open Source and Innovation
Aussie begins his talk emphasizing the pace of innovation, especially with AI advancements. He recounts attending a UK Lean Summit and learning how small teams using lean product and process development outperform larger teams. He highlights the role of open source in fostering innovation without corporate constraints.
π The Impact of Open Source on Security and Innovation
Aussie discusses the importance of open source in cybersecurity and national security, referencing the Biden Administration's executive order and congressional bills. He underscores the role of open source in AI development, with examples from Meta, Elon Musk's Grok, and Mistral AI. Open source is crucial for innovation and has significant economic contributions, with over 100 million developers on GitHub.
π Open Source Trends in Retail and E-commerce
Statistics from a 2023 survey reveal that retail IT leaders find open source software secure and plan to increase its use. Open source is essential for digital transformation, offering higher quality, better security, and flexibility. The talk also highlights the unbundling trend in tech, where specialized solutions are preferred over bundled ones from single vendors.
π οΈ The Process of Bundling and Unbundling in Technology
Aussie explains how bundling and unbundling shape the tech industry, using examples from AOL, Yahoo, Google, and the music industry. Unbundling allows for specialization and innovation, whereas bundling by large corporations can stifle innovation. Experienced CTOs prefer best-of-breed solutions over single-vendor bundles to stay competitive.
π§ AI and Open Source Accelerating Innovation
The synergy between AI and open source accelerates unbundling and innovation. Amazon Bedrock is highlighted as an example of offering multiple AI solutions. Data ownership becomes critical, with open source providing freedom over data. Real-time integration between transactional and analytical systems opens new possibilities for real-time analytics and machine learning.
π The Growing Importance of Open Source in Enterprises
Open source is becoming inevitable for large businesses due to its innovation potential. AWS's zero ETL integration is an example of simplifying data pipelines, enabling real-time analytics and machine learning. Experienced CTOs prefer best-of-breed solutions to leverage new opportunities and avoid being locked into a single vendor.
π Upgrading and Sidegrading with Open Source
Aussie discusses the terminology of upgrading versus sidegrading, emphasizing that moving from proprietary to open source is not a downgrade but a parallel shift. He stresses the importance of branding and marketing for open source, encouraging the community to support it. The talk concludes with an invitation to explore open source offerings and a reminder of the value of community-driven innovation.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘Open Source
π‘Innovation
π‘Vendor Lock-in
π‘Magento
π‘Lean Thinking
π‘Digital Transformation
π‘Bundling
π‘Unbundling
π‘CTO (Chief Technology Officer)
π‘Data Ownership
π‘Side Grading
Highlights
Joseph Russell introduces himself as the strategy director at JH and the MC for the business track.
There are 10 sessions scheduled for the business track, focusing on stories of success amidst challenging times.
The technical track is available for those not interested in business stories, located upstairs.
Aussie, CEO and founder of a couver, is introduced as the first speaker with over three decades of industry experience.
The importance of harnessing the power of open source for e-commerce is emphasized.
Aussie discusses the acceleration of innovation and its prevalence across various sectors.
Lean product and process development can outperform large R&D teams, as shared by a professor at a UK lean summit.
Open source is a collaborative oasis for innovation without corporate barriers.
AI developments like meta AI and groke by Elon Musk are open source, highlighting its significance in the tech industry.
The Biden Administration and Congress have recognized the importance of open source for national security and economic vitality.
Open source contributes significantly to the economy, with contributions amounting to billions in the UK tech sector.
92% of retail IT leaders believe open source software is as secure or more secure than proprietary software.
Open source is chosen for its security, quality, and the ability to leverage technology safely.
The concept of bundling versus unbundling in technology solutions is explored, with unbundling allowing for more innovation and specialization.
CTOs prefer best-of-breed approaches over bundled solutions for the flexibility and innovation they offer.
Artificial intelligence and open source software are accelerating the process of unbundling in the tech industry.
Data ownership and accessibility are key considerations in the choice of technology solutions.
Open source provides total freedom over data, which is increasingly valuable for businesses.
The importance of not locking oneself into a single vendor and the benefits of best-of-breed solutions are highlighted.
Open source software is now considered a safe choice for driving innovation and gaining a competitive edge.
The distinction between upgrading, downgrading, and sidegrading when moving between software versions is clarified.
The Magento Association and a couver collaboration is praised for its importance in branding and marketing for open source.
The event concludes with a call to action to visit the a couver stand and participate in activities related to the 'sudden wave'.
Transcripts
good morning everybody good morning so
um just a quick bit of housekeeping my
name is uh Joseph Russell I'm strategy
director at JH and I'm going to be your
MC here in the main auditorium today for
the business track okay so I'll be
introducing people I've got a little
session coming up later um so just so
you know who I am um we've got 10
sessions today uh more Merchants than
ever you know you get to really hear
about those stories uh From The Trenches
you know particularly over what's been a
challenging kind of 12 months 24 months
now and to really hear kind of how
people have been managed to achieve
success uh in those
circumstances um now if you're not after
the business stuff if you're not after
those stories then it's the technical
track for you and that's upstairs so no
shame if you want to scry off up the
steps at this point okay this is your
your last chance all right but yeah in
you can swap over anytime you like we're
going to have a little bit of swap over
time between talks so you can do that uh
or if you just want to grab a coffee or
you know if you guys want to skip the
talks and just mingle up in the
marketplace totally fine as well you
know you make your own day today that's
what we try and uh give you with the
agenda now the honor of presenting the
first track session uh on the business
track belongs to Aussie who's the CEO
and founder of a couver the managed
Magento Cloud hosting of choice now a is
a technology exer with over three
decades of Industry experience with the
couver just being his fourth startup
he's also an expert in lean thinking for
e-commerce and technology so please you
know as the first Speaker today on the
track give a warm welcome to Aussie
thank
you hi everyone good
morning so let's start we haven't got
much time would be intense lots of sles
to go through so it's
me okay so B Commerce harness the power
open source so ma open for life is this
year's key theme at the A stand as you
probably have noticed if you have been
upstairs um in with the Mago Association
um so please come and visit us um
experience this silent wave would be fun
and um
and um you know collect you probably
seen the Magento vinyl um there are um
tracks uh two trucks which have been
created by Matias and yor U of the
magenta
Association that's me I've been
introduced already
so uh yeah I've been on both sides of
the table uh in retail in e-commerce for
over 20 years um and now here at
aoua these are some of the Supreme
Brands um that we are proud to serve at
aova so yeah let's talk about I won't
talk about AI don't worry um but I'll
use it because it's important so they
hyper created by the launch of CH gbt
around um was 18 months ago um clearly
show that the pace of innovation is
accelerating faster than ever it just
keeps
accelerating and Innovation is happening
everywhere now earlier this year um was
in April I attended a UK lean
Summit uh an annual event that brings
together the best companies out there
adopting lean to thrive and Excel
including obviously Toyota uh since lean
originated from the Toyota production
system um there was a professor of the
lean Product Development
Center in Taiwan uh who shared his
learning and results when teaching the L
product and process de development
courses in collaboration with large Corp
operations one clear
takeaway was that small team of students
using lean product and process
development can outperform large
research and development teams in
developing new products and services
small teams don't have the top down
strategies the politic they don't have
the
silos a Innovation Thrive without the
typical constraints of large
corporations open source is one of the
best places to innovate Beyond any
constraints it off a collaborative Oasis
um for Innovation encouraging creativity
and removing those corporate
barriers which you know the Stuffle
Innovation going back to AI um notice
that meta
Ai and groke by Alon
musk um are open source as well as mral
AI based in France uh which is essential
for building a European ecosystem around
AI to catch up with the uh us
companies an open source in is more
complex due to um you know safety and
ethical consideration but still is a
driving
force in
March
2020 in sorry it was may actually 20121
the Biden Administration issued an
executive order following some major
security incidents for improving the
national cyber
security and in 2022 and 2023 three the
Congress in collaboration with the cyber
security and infrastructure Security
Agency introduced a bill highlighting
the significance of Open Source it
recognized that open source software is
crucial for ensuring the National
Security and the economic V Vitality of
the United States
recent AI
development and debates at the
UK AI safety Summit which was held um
couple of months
ago highlighted The crucial role of Open
Source at the highest level of
government and the Prime Minister Rishi
sunak himself said on
linking that UK government is Pro open
source the open source drives
Innovation it creates
startups and creates
communities there are many ways to
Define open
source but fundamentally in my opinion
of Open Source is about
freedom is freedom to
innovate developers can modify Hance and
adapt the
software is freedom from vendor Lo in
have all been tied up to a single
provider unwanted changes or Price
hikes is freedom to
collaborate work with diverse Community
to improve the
software and it is freedom of choice
select from variety of solutions pick
and choose not just one vendor's
ecosystem B open source is more um open
source also significantly contribute to
the
economy um in 2022 it contributed nearly
14 billion pounds annually which is
27% of the UK Tech sector gross value
added it is estimated that between five
and six billion roughly was invested in
open source software only in the
UK and there are more than 100 million
developers using
GitHub and when more developers come
together incredible things
happen oou
um is a suit a suite of open-source uh
business applications covering all
company needs from U Erp CRM accounting
inventory point of sell
Etc and in India they saw the client
acquisition growing from
20 per month to over 500 per month
within one
year they're not using sap as you can
see according to a recent survey by
stock overflow developer see open source
as the most
proven and impactful
Technology right
there here are some stats
about open source Trends in retail and
e-commerce published by the open
invention Network in September
2023
92% of retail it leaders believe that
open source software is a secure or more
secure than proprietor
software 78% of them expect to increase
their use of Open Source
Source software for
Technologies 84% of retail it leaders
choose open source
suppliers 77% of them say open source is
a key part of the security
strategy and
62% top use of Open Source is digital
transformation in summary we fality
leader says that the top three reason to
use open source software are higher
quality better security and their
ability to safely leverage the
technology we saw this before and the LA
for Magento keeps growing as you can see
um this is the you know the history of
the stars in gab for Magento 2
there are different criteria to evaluate
um when choosing softer
solutions for example um open source
versus closed
Source
bundling which means all solutions from
one vendor versus unbundling which is a
mix of best of breed Solutions generic
solutions for addressing wide range of
um common needs to specialized Solutions
um terot to specific needs and then SAS
sofa service versus on your Cloud we
don't talk about on premise anymore uh
which offers a balance between um
traditional on premise and modern s
solutions kind of based on
both now let's zoom on the bundling and
unbundling what is it uh let let's um
use an example here once upon a time you
probably remember if you're old enough
that there was AOL American online which
bundled everything from dial
up um to Information Services such as
email news
Etc then came Yahoo and unbundled the
content from the access Yahoo didn't
need um an ISP it wasn't
one one feature of Yahoo was
search and then Google Google came
along and ab bundled search from
yahu and then Facebook came along and ab
bundled search for people from from
Google here is another
example um the music industry um is a
classic example of unbundling before you
you had to buy a CD with many trucks in
it then
um napsa came along and you could
download the truck that you wanted okay
nowadays everyone you know use Spotify
you don't have to buy a bundle of trucks
you just download a stream the one that
you
want and this bundling and bundling it's
a process that keeps playing out all the
time within a tech
industry now let's focus on bundling
it's a common
strategy that is used by large
corporations to protect their market
dominance it combines multiple products
and services into a single offering
right which can be
appealing due to perceived convenience
and
integration means wanted to Outsource
Innovation and be on par with other
average competition and companies often
choose this path and this approach kind
of creates what I call Innovation
dependence you depend on the provider to
be able to
innovate then there is a
bundling um which empowers innovation
specialization and Excellence new
entrance can focus on a specific
vertical a sector and do it
exceptionally well uh Merchants select
the best tools um for their needs
without being locked into a single
vendor and Merchants wanting to innovate
a stand out choose this
approach traditionally choosy
bundled solution from established Brands
was the safe option the safe
bet and this was summed up by this old
saying nobody ever go fir for buying
IBM but
noway executive will be questioned for
not to explore Innovative best of bridge
solution this is an old Behavior
um that is driven this one which is
driven by risk
aversion um
woring to make the wrong
choice and it's time for Innovation it's
it's not good for the company you work
for it
really doesn't allow to achieve full
potential and it holds back what's
possible
now I've been I've been lucky to um to
see many and to know lots of different
CTO out there and uh one thing is clear
is that experience a very competent CTO
prefer the best of breed approach rather
than relying on a bundle from a single
vendor CTO drives complex digital
transformation where e-commerce
is just one
component okay uh of a broader strategy
and this is becoming more and more
so um CTO innovates by nature and they
don't rely on a single vendor
okay artificial intelligence and open
source software accelerate bundling
effort as I said this is a process that
keeps going on keeps playing out and
bothos are just accelerating the process
for example um like let's look at um
Amazon Bedrock you might not be familiar
with it but um it's an AWS
offering um to deploy solution for
different type of large language models
uh including the open- source one that
we just mentioned the customer can
choose from and
customize in
contrast the bundlers they offer their
own solution or AI Solutions with fancy
names such as you know Einstein Watson
sense uh they don't give you much
choice now when you couple artificial
intelligence with the accelerated pace
of
innovation with
unbundling and with the
need to own customer
relationship data becomes a key decision
criteria and the questions you have to
ask is who owns the data where is the
data how can I access the data this is
probably will become one of the most
important criteria for
you data is the king no doubt it will
become the king and open source provide
total freedom on your own data uh the
larger the business and the more
important and valuable those data
are with better Enterprise grade
solutions from the ecosyst systems such
as
AWS akova and many many others uh which
we have today here in this in this in
this place
um open source is not just a
viable
solution it's almost inevitable even for
large businesses not just for small or
mid companies actually you will see more
and more large businesses adopting open
source many of them they already doing
that um open source and Bas bre
approaches open up new possibilities um
I'll give you an example here um no long
time ago a few months ago um at the end
of last year actually um
AWS announced a a zero ETL
integration between Aurora which is a
honey performance and scalable uh
database uh my SQL compatible and red
shift which is a data warehousing
solution and this NE real time um
integration between a transactional
database the
aora and the analytical system the data
Lake
eliminates the need and the headaches of
of a data pipeline you don't need a data
pip pipeline you don't need ETL
anymore and all of a sudden it enables
um a real
time
um uh integration which then can enable
real time analytics can enable real time
machine learning and we can stop there
you can just think about what can you do
when you have your own transactional
data moving near real time into a place
where you can quickly do analy
and machine learning on the Fly near
Real Time new possibilities open
up this is why it's important and this
is why experience
CTO prefer best of breed because they
know the landscape is constantly
changing there are always new
possibilities down the line that do not
want to be Clos into a COR and not be
able to leverage those
opportunities so never lock yourself in
this is rule number
one
so in the current state of Technology
open soft open source software is the
safe
Choice H by embracing open source
companies can drive Innovation obviously
gain agility
resilience and comp competitive age
needed to thrive in today's
digital landscape now G is nobody ever
got fir from buying a BM from today oops
sorry from today no nobody will ever get
fired for choosing open
source now I'd like to make a point
here when you move for one softare
version to the
next you call it
upgrade or upgade grading moving from a
gental open
source to Adobe Commerce for example
it's not upgrading it is called s
grading okay similarly when you move
from Magento uh sorry Adobe Comm to
Magento open source that's not called
downgrading it is called side grading so
remember that's when you use
terminologies such as upgrading or
downgrading in here you use sound
grading okay you don't lose anything
with open source if anything you gain
with open
source as we said
before this is old news um apparently um
the side is live today I've just heard
um which is great um it is great to see
what's happening uh between the magenta
Association and major s and um and
that's important because I I really
believe that branding and marketing is
extremely important for the magent open
source because no one is really taking
care of it anymore so we need to take
care of it from now
on and when a community comes together
incredible things can happen and it's
happening
now um magenta open for
life is the key theme uh today um at the
marketplace come to the aova stand um
together with the magenta Association
experience the sudden wave uh these are
the times when the sudden wave is
happening but might be happening uh
Beyond those times as
well uh thank you so much to um Matias
in New York from the magenta Association
for coming for making the vinyl and uh
dejing for all of us
uh thank you so
much and don't
forget um to play a vinyl um you need a
time table so you can win one just
follow these instructions and you have
the opportunity to win one if um if you
go to the um akuan stand you will have
also the information so you can take a
screenshot here um or go to the stand
later on
and that's it for me uh
[Applause]
Browse More Related Video
![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Doy7RD5aUAU/hq720.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCIAKENAF8quKqQMa8AEB-AH-CYAC0AWKAgwIABABGF8gRShlMA8=&rs=AOn4CLCRkLoXwhnEEiOFAYauaI9s8HYWhg)
Opening Keynote | Jamie Huskisson | Welcome to Meet Magneto UK 2024
![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/-mIjwN1o7nE/hq720.jpg)
Andrew Ng on AI's Potential Effect on the Labor Force | WSJ
![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/783ccP__No8/hq720.jpg)
GraphQL: The Documentary
![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lJkV_a6G9rE/hq720.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCIAKENAF8quKqQMa8AEB-AH-CYAC0AWKAgwIABABGEogVChlMA8=&rs=AOn4CLD4r6QlIYiVX-SCbdKNAGss-XFzJg)
Tally Solutions: A Journey of Innovation and Growth
![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/yinHx5UnYs0/hq720.jpg)
Open sourcing the AI ecosystem ft. Arthur Mensch of Mistral AI and Matt Miller
![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Z3GX1Mrovgg/hq720.jpg)
Code Interpreter.... but OPEN SOURCE? Open Interpreter's Mike Bird on OS Projects, Mindset + More
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)