5 advantages of Commercial Open Source Software (COSS) over SaaS for data analytics

Snowplow has transitioned from a Commercial Open Source Software (COSS) company to an enterprise software entity while maintaining a strong source-available stance, enhancing the core Snowplow pipeline by reducing operational costs, increasing processing speeds, and enabling flexible custom processing. COSS, positioned between open source and Software as a Service (SaaS), combines the transparency and community engagement of open-source software with the monetization methods of SaaS, allowing for flexibility, customization, and the avoidance of vendor lock-in. This model has proven advantageous for companies like Snowplow, which has built a large user base and vibrant community contributing to its success and development, and other notable COSS companies like MongoDB, Elastic, and Databricks, which offer scalable solutions for data management and analysis. The transparency inherent in COSS also enhances security as the open-source code can be reviewed for vulnerabilities, leading to a more secure and auditable software environment. Snowplow's adoption of the COSS model has facilitated its growth and allowed its users to collect accurate and detailed customer data through a collaborative community-driven approach.