Open source community insights at PGConf.EU 2024

October 25, 2024

EDB is deeply invested in the success and growth of the open source community, and we’re passionate about helping to build Postgres to support the workloads of the future. More than a dozen of our Postgres experts are sharing their knowledge and expertise with talks, training sessions, and keynotes at PGConf.EU 2024, and EDB is proud to be a platinum sponsor of the conference this year. 

PGConf.EU is the largest PostgreSQL event in the world, and a great opportunity for us to connect with open-source enthusiasts from around the world, to talk about the challenges and opportunities on the horizon for developers’ favorite database. We enjoyed hearing insights from well-known and emerging names in the Postgres community, and exchange ideas with Postgres users, developers, and database administrators. As we wrap up the conference talks and meetings this week, we ‘re reflecting on the important work of the open source community, and EDB’s ongoing dedication to helping build and improve Postgres.

EDB

EDB’s long-standing commitment to PostgreSQL

Over the past 20 years, EDB has witnessed significant industry changes, and through it all, customers continue to turn to PostgreSQL for its reliability and flexibility. EDB enhances this by delivering enterprise-grade performance, outstanding services, and cost advantages through our development efforts for PostgreSQL. In addition, our production-ready companion offerings such as EDB Postgres and Advanced Server, EDB Postgres Extended, and Kubernetes operators for all variants of Postgres.

PostgreSQL powers EDB’s ability to deliver enterprise-grade database performance, security, and availability for more than 1,500 customers worldwide, providing an open-source-based solution that drives data innovation. Its extensibility, architectural strength, and ability to handle both structured and unstructured data bring efficiency and agility to enterprises, helping them solve their most complex data challenges.

Finally, we actively participate and lead in many of the surrounding eco-system open source communities such as CloudNativePG, pgAdmin, Barman, and PgBouncer.

PostgreSQL continues to inspire innovation, and we’re proud to be one of the leading contributors to this growing community. Alongside the vibrant independent community, EDB is committed to building the enterprise-grade capabilities our customers rely on, ensuring the highest security standards, scalability, availability, and performance for complex, mission-critical workloads.

Elevating PostgreSQL from a data store to a strategic technology asset

20 years ago this year, the original founders of EDB built a product and service offering around two core beliefs; one that more and more people would want to use PostgreSQL, and another that more and more people would want to stop using Oracle. 

These beliefs have proven true through decades of enterprise-grade Postgres excellence. Over the years, Postgres’s popularity has skyrocketed, and EDB’s focus on Oracle compatibility, meaningful contributions to the PostgreSQL community, and development of enterprise-scale database tooling have empowered our customers to overcome both legacy and emerging data challenges.

EDB’s most recent product innovations center around the belief that PostgreSQL can solve the AI generation’s most complex data challenges, breaking data silos and supporting new AI initiatives across any cloud or hybrid environment with the confidence of enterprise-grade security, compliance, and availability. EDB Postgres AI bridges the gap between operational, transactional, and analytical systems, elevating PostgreSQL from a data store to a strategic technology asset that supports AI and advanced analytics—all while leveraging the database developers love the most.

EDB

Building Postgres to support the workloads of the future

Why has Postgres endured and is now winning in the race for business transformation over proprietary legacy databases like Oracle? It has been built on and improved for decades by forward-thinking contributors who believe in the lasting power of open source.

EDB is proud of our longstanding history of significant contributions to the PostgreSQL project, working alongside the independent and vibrant community to continuously improve the technology. With the release of PostgreSQL 17, EDB introduced the new Incremental Backup feature, developed by EDB VP, Chief Database Scientist Robert Haas. Incremental Backup is a critical enhancement that allows PostgreSQL to support larger mission-critical applications with stringent disaster recovery (DR) requirements. This contribution is key to ensuring that enterprises can depend on PostgreSQL for their most demanding workloads, offering greater confidence in data resilience.

From logical replication and parallel query in PostgreSQL10 to the highly anticipated MERGE SQL command, in PostgreSQL 15 and of course Incremental Backup in Postgres 17, the EDB team has contributed to more than 30% of major Postgres features since 2006, making us a leading innovator driving enterprise-ready Postgres forward. 

EDB also leads the way in running PostgreSQL on Kubernetes with CloudNativePG, setting the standard for cloud native database management. As the only company to donate the IP of a Postgres operator, EDB is advancing PostgreSQL's growth in Kubernetes and driving the CNCF graduation process, fostering an open and self-sustaining community.

Beyond code contributions, we actively support the community by sponsoring and attending conferences, publishing free training materials, and sharing our knowledge to help advance PostgreSQL technology and adoption. 

EDB

Charting the future of PostgreSQL 

Data and AI are inherently interconnected, shaping the foundation for the next generation of data infrastructure.

And PostgreSQL is leading this charge to the future.

We know that 35% of enterprises are considering PostgreSQL for their next major workloads. Out of this group, 56% believe that AI is going mainstream in their organization. We also see customers becoming more intentional about where and how they deploy their data, with 49-56% of critical workloads occurring in a hybrid manner that leverages Kubernetes and operators like CloudNativePG. 

This tells us that the very immediate future of PostgreSQL is both exciting and pivotal—not only as the world’s leading open source database, but also as a critical data platform capable of supporting far more than transactional workloads. PostgreSQL is poised to take on the analytical and AI use cases that are reshaping the modern enterprise.

At EDB, we firmly believe in PostgreSQL’s ability to deliver exceptional value in the AI era. That’s why we are doubling down on our commitment—not only through our continued contributions to the open source project but also by driving the adoption of PostgreSQL as a unified data and AI platform among our customers.

Celebrating the power of the open source community

At its core, the open source community thrives on collaboration, and EDB is committed to furthering the important work of open source Postgres. Right now, dozens of EDB employees are active participants in the Postgres community. We are proud to have 3 core team members, 7 committers, 9 major contributors, 10 contributors. 

Postgres community gatherings help contribute to the mission of open source by providing an opportunity to share knowledge, learn from one another, and collaborate on the future of PostgreSQL. For EDB, attending and participating in these conferences is about more than just being present—it’s about being an active part of this open exchange of ideas. And the PostgreSQL Europe conference is especially close to our hearts as it was co-founded by several EDB employees. 

At Postgres community events, we welcome the chance to have real, meaningful conversations with fellow PostgreSQL users, hear firsthand how they’re approaching new challenges, and share our own expertise and experience. And the conversations don’t end after the event: EDB supports smaller, hyperlocal community meetups all over the world. 

At the end of the day, it’s about staying connected to the community and the people who build it that make PostgreSQL what it is.

Thanks to all the attendees, speakers, and community volunteers who made PGConf.EU 2024 such a success. We’re looking forward to connecting soon at the next Postgres community event

Ready to start your Postgres journey with EDB? Get in touch

Missed PGConf.EU 2024? Read a summary of all our talks and trainings here
 

EDB

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