Postgres is most transformative open source technology since Linux: EnterpriseDB

Enterprise DB helps organizations get the most out of PostgreSQL. Nearly 1,500 customers worldwide have chosen EDB software, services, and support. Their offices worldwide enable deploying their global expertise locally, and support customers more efficiently.

Scott Horn, CMO, EnterpriseDB, tells us more. Excerpts from an interview:

DQ. Tell us about EnterpriseDB, and the services that your company offers?

Scott Horn: Postgres is the most transformative open source technology since Linux, and EDB is the leading contributor to Postgres. Our Postgres solutions are designed to help enterprises to build modern applications, and help dislodge and replace legacy database incumbents to make Postgres the pre-eminent standard.

With more than 300 dedicated developers, and more than 30% of Postgres code contributions, EDB is the leading source of innovation in this technology. Our 50 consecutive quarters of growth are proof of the enduring value that Postgres delivers for enterprises.

From self-managed private clouds to fully-managed public clouds, Postgres is the most prolifically deployed database in modern data architectures. Developers pick Postgres more than any other database for its technical superiority compared to legacy and proprietary systems.

EDB’s portfolio includes products and services that enable enterprises to deploy Postgres anywhere and everywhere they need it most, with maximum security, availability, and flexibility—all while breaking free from costly cloud and vendor lock-in. Our technology supports every stage of a company’s open source transformation, including community Postgres, fully managed or self-managed Postgres, Oracle migration and compatibility and even Postgres for Kubernetes.

DQ. What were the company's goals and objectives when it was founded?

Scott Horn: EDB was founded in 2004 to help enterprises harness the full power of Postgres. Today, we have fundamentally changed the way enterprises use data by accelerating open source innovation.

In 2008, Ed Boyajian joined as President and CEO. At the time, he saw tremendous growth and led the development of EDB’s strategic vision in the database, steering us through now 50 consecutive quarters of recurring revenue growth. He also led EDB’s acquisition of 2nd Quadrant -- a deal that joined the world’s top PostgreSQL experts and positioned EDB as the largest dedicated provider of PostgreSQL products and solutions worldwide.

DQ. What are your growth plans for the next year?

Scott Horn: EDB recently announced a majority growth investment from Bain Capital Private Equity, while Great Hill Partners, which acquired EDB in 2019, will also remain a significant shareholder.

This substantial investment validates the enormous power of Postgres, accelerates EDB’s engineering and service capabilities globally, and enables us to expand our cloud-based technologies. This will directly benefit our customers.

DQ. What were the major challenges the company has faced till now?

Scott Horn: PostgreSQL was designed at the University of California, Berkeley, more than 30 years ago, and for years, it was, in a sense, the best kept secret.

After gaining momentum steadily, Postgres has rapidly gained momentum. An inherently challenging market, compounded by inflation and rising interest rates, demands that companies accelerate their business transformation. Organizations are shifting to open source models to compete and stay relevant, and Postgres is the option they prefer. Postgres provides all the same capabilities as legacy systems, and more, while offering immensely better economics.

We believe that 2022 is the tipping point for Postgres—the technology is robust and unmatched, developers have declared Postgres their preferred database and enterprises are now choosing open source licenses over legacy licenses the majority of the time.

DQ. How is EnterpriseDB helping customers deliver relevant business outcomes through the adoption of the company’s technology innovations?

Scott Horn: Database spend is the #1 software license cost for CIOs. Hence, switching to Postgres has a major impact on the bottom line.

Open source technologies like Postgres are inherently more affordable, because the development costs are spread across a global community, enabling a foundation for solutions that are orders of magnitude more affordable. The Postgres license is extremely permissive and allows customers to use every cloud, every deployment technology, every virtualization method, and every storage technology.

The two broad categories of applications being deployed on Postgres are new applications, driven by developers’ preference for Postgres and the replacement of legacy databases such as on Oracle and others. Examples of applications include payment systems and inventory systems in manufacturing; telecommunications companies storing geospatial information for wireless devices; healthcare providers digitizing and streamlining document workflows; and financial services companies using Cloud Native technology to ensure that their new applications are compliant and scalable, with extreme high availability. Those are only a few examples.

The vast majority of EDB customers report using EDB Postgres for their enterprise transaction applications and “systems of record.” Interestingly, but perhaps not surprisingly given the flexibility of Postgres, more than 50 percent of EDB's customers report using it for analytical applications, and nearly 30 percent use it for websites and social media solutions that have previously been the focus of specialty players.

Decision-makers want their employees and most notably the developers and technology architects to be engaged, energized, and happy. Postgres makes this possible. Decision-makers also demand the best possible performance with the most favorable economics. Postgres delivers this more than any other database.

EDB supports business leaders who value flexibility, economics and growth. Our technology and services enable them to scale quickly, operate anywhere and support multiple complex applications at significantly lower costs than legacy vendors. We ensure high availability, flexibility and real time access to data systems. For decision-makers, this means freedom from cumbersome contracts and locked systems, greater productivity for developers and data architects, and increased confidence in availability.

Our business is built to remove barriers. Some of the biggest companies in the world including Apple, Daimler, Goldman Sachs, and others have already adopted Postgres as their database standard. It’s not a matter of if, but when the majority of enterprises will follow suit.

DQ. What are some challenges that organizations have before implementing open source db/ Postgres?

Scott Horn: Organizations have limited choices for managing their databases, most of which can bring a host of challenges. Proprietary legacy databases like Oracle still account for approximately $40 billion of the market but are no longer technically superior to Postgres and they cost enterprises unjustifiable amounts of money.

New cloud vendors, who are at their core are data center infrastructure and hardware experts, have jumped into the software business, which now includes Postgres. However, these vendors are not database specialists or experts—which costs them in the eyes of enterprises. Lack of expertise in Postgres, coupled with new walled gardens that prevent hybrid and multi-cloud solutions, are their two biggest weaknesses.

Specialty NoSQL databases are best suited for narrow use cases, making them less scalable and ill-equipped to handle the heavy workloads of the more complex enterprise applications. Additionally, in almost every instance these specialty databases are open source projects that are captive to a single company, and thus their future potential is limited.

Postgres is a true open source database, governed by an independent and robust global community. With EDB, the power of Postgres is significantly enhanced to deliver unmatched flexibility, scalability, and cost savings.