Muggie van Staden is the managing director and chief executive officer of Obsidian Systems, an open source solutions company that he has helmed for 21 years.<\/p>\n
Leveraging the Linux open source way as a driving force, van Staden has embedded a culture of innovation, relevance, dedication and collaboration in this niche IT service provider. As an engineer, van Staden\u2019s inherent nature is to solve problems in unique and effective ways.<\/p>\n
He says that Obsidian is the name that has become synonymous with providing peace of mind when it comes to open solutions, putting the needs of customers first and building future-facing technology solutions together.<\/p>\n
“Obsidian Systems has a culture of dynamic innovation coupled with a strong tendency towards trying new things (among many other attributes), and not to be afraid to make mistakes. This, and taking full accountability and responsibility for actions is encouraged.<\/p>\n
“Our people are encouraged to learn and grow themselves to their full potential as managers, innovators, problem solvers, and citizens of South Africa.”<\/p>\n
Obsidian Systems, along with its subsidiaries GuruHut, Autumn Leaf, and RadixTrie, is an established supplier of enterprise-ready open source software solutions.<\/p>\n
“We focus on providing the South African market with vendor-certified products; local expertise to provide consulting, development, and support; and vendor-certified training. We help teams to get their code to the best compute and the correct data,” says van Staden.<\/p>\n
Obsidian Systems is continually leading the charge in open source with the likes of Linux and Hadoop, he says. With Covid-19 highlighting the importance of digital transformation, it has created the opportunity for an innovative company such as Obsidian Systems to compete globally in the open source market.<\/p>\n
In this episode of Business Talk with Michael Avery, van Staden talks through how businesses, including Obsidian Systems have adapted in South Africa off the back of Covid-19.<\/p>\n
He talks about a new way of operating post lockdown, and how in a state of economic uncertainty many look to open source, where they may not have before. The economy of it becomes appealing, he says.<\/p>\n
He highlights some of the trends around what is essentially free software, and the open \u2018source code\u2019 for businesses to thrive in the future.<\/p>\n
The full interview is embedded below. You can find all the Business Talk with Michael Avery interviews here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n