# OpenMCP  ## Episode metadata - Episode title: OpenMCP - Show: The Open Source Way - Owner / Host: SAP SE - Guests: [Maximilian Techritz](https://share.snipd.com/person/e1a715ff-66f0-48ed-880b-fb8c7cdcfabf), [Johannes Ott](https://share.snipd.com/person/f110b32a-144a-4d32-8c8d-c9579a710d96) - Episode publish date: 2025-09-17 - Episode AI description: Johannes Ott and Maximilian Techritz, software engineers at SAP, delve into Open Managed Control Planes (OpenMCP), an innovative open-source project optimizing cloud orchestration with a singular declarative API. They discuss how OpenMCP harmonizes various Kubernetes tools like Crossplane and External Secrets, addressing recurring enterprise challenges. The duo shares valuable insights on deployment prerequisites and the benefits for multi-team enterprises, while highlighting the importance of community growth and contributions in open-source ecosystems. - Duration: 24:30 - Episode URL: [Open in Snipd](https://share.snipd.com/episode/b37b719d-6c10-4ad9-9804-ff3910e10af9) - Show URL: [Open in Snipd](https://share.snipd.com/show/b1b29f2a-adba-4a31-a243-ef177053789c) - Export date: 2026-02-17T23:33:06 ## Snips ### [One Declarative API For Full Cloud Landscapes](https://share.snipd.com/snip/1302599e-efcb-4586-b378-77d8b11d805c) 🎧 03:12 - 04:54 (01:41) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/801133a6-288b-4e43-926a-bab7b808a2b7" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - OpenMCP provides one declarative API to describe and maintain entire cloud landscapes across infra, databases, clusters, secrets and workloads. - The control plane ensures declared desired state is kept and alerts owners when it cannot reconcile. #### 💬 Quote > So we are really tackling a methodology which introduces these benefits to all aspects of your cloud landscapes. > — Johannes Ott Johannes Ott on what OpenMCP provides #### 📚 Transcript **Johannes Ott:** Cool. Yeah, Manage Control Plane. What is that? Manage Control Plane is an offering we have brought to the engineers in-house here at SAP. And we are bringing this engine and the code behind Open Source now. And here you will find it under the name Open MCP. What it does is it combines all tools our engineers need to set up and configure their cloud landscapes and put them behind one simple approach or even one simple syntax. And that means all system and components will look and feel the same to all of our engineers, where today they are facing a wide range of different tools, CLIs, technologies, processes order to accomplish the same. So we are really tackling a methodology which introduces these benefits to all aspects of your cloud landscapes. begins with the infrastructure, considers accounts, databases, secrets, clusters, workload, initial content, all the stuff you need to really describe this entire full stack and put it behind one syntax. Because we believe this is already quite a simplification, which is a good reason to adopt this tool, or why we're seeing traction in different organizations all over the company globally. But where we think it really begins to bring the big, big value is stability. Because with the managed control planes, we do not only lead the teams to put this landscape description behind this one simple syntax. We make sure that anything you have defined here stays as desired. So you don't just roll out a landscape, but also tomorrow you can be sure that whatever you define there as desired is still in place. And if it's not, the managed control plane will go ahead, try to get this state back into where it should be. --- ### [Recurring Enterprise Infra Fragmentation](https://share.snipd.com/snip/5deea9ef-cefc-4b4a-9448-7ff120dbf2c8) 🎧 05:20 - 06:36 (01:16) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/4b69079a-5cbf-47cc-b5ef-0b3684778959" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - Many teams invent their own infrastructure tooling and waste time maintaining bespoke solutions instead of reusing common approaches. - OpenMCP emerged after finding this recurring pattern and exploring CNCF tooling to harmonize solutions. #### 💬 Quote > Many teams have their own solutions and processes to cope with the challenges. > — Johannes Ott Johannes Ott on why a shared control plane is needed #### 📚 Transcript **Johannes Ott:** started with this managed control plane offering, we are actually a team coming from very different areas here within SAP. Different industries, different regions. And we have all worked on numerous products, actually brought them live here within the company. And surprisingly, we all experienced a very similar pattern around this whole topic of cloud infrastructure handling. And that is many teams have their own solutions and processes to cope with the challenges. Every team spends significant amount of time maintaining this infrastructure setup. And the third thing we observed is that hardly any team is proud of what they are doing in this area and reuse or collaborations are rarely seen. Then we wondered, how can this be similar to how you just asked it? Well, isn't that a very common question? So how come we don't have a shared answer to that? And this is why we began to look outside of SAP. How are other market players, how are other open source projects actually tackling this? This is when we began to check out open source tooling supported by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation. And we experimented with their compatibility SAP-related services and platforms. And this is kind of how the whole journey then started. We received amazing feedback and interest on that collaboration of us throughout the company. --- ### [Describe Landscapes As Code On Kubernetes](https://share.snipd.com/snip/ebfe499b-dcb9-4e0d-b25f-a9305de41eb3) 🎧 07:05 - 09:05 (02:00) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/55a29cc9-1857-4b7e-8c83-47148a0453ab" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - Describe the complete cloud landscape as code using Kubernetes and a harmonized set of open source controllers. - Use established CNCF tools rather than custom CLIs to gain reuse, portability, and stability. #### 💬 Quote > You can describe the complete cloud landscape, your application, the infrastructure, and the services around it, end-to with an API... > — Maximilian Techritz Maximilian Techritz on describing landscapes via API #### 📚 Transcript **Maximilian Techritz:** Sure. Well, let's look back where we and also many other development teams and organizations came from. Automation was done writing CLI or bash scripts, but that is not fully automated. It still requires manual effort. First of all, it's hard to read and also hard to maintain. Also, every tool has its own look and feel with update cycles. It's time consuming. It has constraints also with integrating it into the architecture. And of course, a change to one tiny aspect of an application in the cloud landscape might also affect several tools along the deployment chain. Most striking, it's even a common scenario like how do I order a new database that this question gets asked. We all know these handbooks where you see like 30 pages of instructions how to set up a database instance, which configuration you have to take or service accounts that needs to be configured in order to connect to your application. That is tedious. And again, every team is going through this pain every time for every single database. We are solving this challenge by using API. You can describe the complete cloud landscape, your application, the infrastructure, and the services around it, end-to with an API where you can describe how much storage should the database have, or in which region should the application be deployed, or after how many hours should credentials be rotated. Every single aspect put behind one API, completely declarative by design. And for the techies in the audience, this should sound familiar, we fully run on Kubernetes. Kubernetes is the most proven cloud technology out there, and it runs on so many cloud landscapes around all over the world today. With Kubernetes, we benefit from the broad open source ecosystem, and in particular with the Native Computing Foundation. So the Cloud Native Computing Foundation offers so many out of the box tools to orchestrate any kind of resources in the cloud. Our platform, OpenManage Control Plains, is harmonizing all of these different tools into one platform using Kubernetes as the foundation. --- ### [Reuse Existing CNCF Tools](https://share.snipd.com/snip/b57a3d67-0ba7-455e-b2e5-8814de359b01) 🎧 09:23 - 10:12 (00:49) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/9831ce3f-77d5-4385-9b45-7796b84f3943" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - Reuse existing open-source controllers like Crossplane, External Secrets Operator, and OPA instead of reinventing integrations. - Harmonize those tools under a single platform to make consumption easier for engineers. #### 💬 Quote > There is no need to reinvent the wheel here, but benefit already from the existing open source world. > — Maximilian Techritz Maximilian Techritz on tooling choices #### 📚 Transcript **Maximilian Techritz:** Just to name a few different tools here, we are using tools such as Crossplane, for example. Crossplane is an open source tool that allows you to describe the desired state of cloud provider resources and treat them as a Kubernetes resource. As an example, you can describe a database instance running at a Google data center or an S3 bucket running at Amazon, defined and orchestrated from the Kubernetes control plane. Or another tool when it comes to secret handling and rotation. There you have external secrets operator. It's also a very open source tool. But again, you could use any other Kubernetes tool that your organization might be already using today. And last but not least, ensuring policies, which is in particular relevant for larger organizations that want to enforce rules and best practices. But yeah, you can use here Calvano or Open Policy Agent. --- ### [Biggest Win For Large, Multi-Team Organizations](https://share.snipd.com/snip/31e0a82e-11ed-4181-a5f9-3abe9230d821) 🎧 10:55 - 11:40 (00:45) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/40873fab-ab04-490d-a218-4b5a9596357a" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - Larger organizations with many teams and multi-cloud landscapes gain the most from a unified control plane and shared templates. - OpenMCP encourages sharing best practices and lets engineers focus on application development. #### 💬 Quote > Larger organizations definitely can benefit the most. > — Maximilian Techritz Maximilian Techritz on who benefits most #### 📚 Transcript **Maximilian Techritz:** so first of all, larger organizations definitely can benefit the most. I'm talking about organizations with several development teams. Development teams with many landscapes that are separated, connected, or spread across many tools or cloud vendors. And of course, teams that will grow in terms of organization, regions, or future complexity. And again, having one API to describe all of the aspects of a cloud landscape is really the key to be excited for. So this allows also teams to share and reuse templates of Kubernetes resources, which again is our cloud landscape definition. And OpenMCP introduces also a mindset for different teams to share best practices. Other teams can use those best practices right away. So every role can really be excited. --- ### [Kubernetes Is The Only Hard Requirement](https://share.snipd.com/snip/e80ccf76-ed51-44f1-a0b4-997bac64fcfb) 🎧 12:10 - 12:58 (00:47) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/76288e23-07c8-4959-800a-7deb51616ed0" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - You only need a Kubernetes-compatible environment to run OpenMCP, including on-premises or air-gapped setups. - Consider Gardener to manage Kubernetes clusters, but any Kubernetes provider works. #### 💬 Quote > In the end, you just need Kubernetes. > — Maximilian Techritz Maximilian Techritz on prerequisites to run OpenMCP #### 📚 Transcript **Maximilian Techritz:** of all, not much because the whole stack of OpenManage control plan can be really deployed in any organization that supports Kubernetes. And here really to mention, it can be like public cloud, can be on-premises, and the beauty of it, air-gapped environments. We can all really ship this in environments where they are disconnected from the internet. We, to be honest, we recommend to use Gardner. Gardner is another open source tool that got initiated by SAP and it brings a managed Kubernetes offering on top of any data center, on top of any cloud provider that you could think of. But in the end, open managed control plans is really open to all cloud providers or data centers because in the end, you just need Kubernetes. And that's why you can even deploy this stack in a Google Cloud Kubernetes engine. --- ### [From Inner-Source Prototype To EU-Backed Project](https://share.snipd.com/snip/2f838a6c-f003-45ab-95db-d44414ee6561) 🎧 13:07 - 14:27 (01:20) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/5c80e8c0-2d7b-4f13-8bb5-13fb0e314caf" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - OpenMCP began as an inner-source effort inside SAP with community calls and prototyping for six months. - The project grew to ~500 internal members before being donated to the Neo-Nephos foundation with EU backing. #### 💬 Quote > We started inner source and on a regular basis, invited a group of engineers... > — Johannes Ott Johannes Ott on the project's origin and growth #### 📚 Transcript **Johannes Ott:** We chose inner source because we ourselves did not know, is that a problem just relevant for us? Or does it also maybe bother or raise interest in other teams? So we started inner source and on a regular basis, invited a group of engineers back then, I believe it was roughly 15, that we simply pulled into a small community call. We showed off what is currently working with our proofs of concept, ask about their opinion, what is working and what is not. And in this mode, we kept developing for around half a year and we kept saying, hey, it is growing, it is growing. And now one and a half years later, we have grown just within SAP to a community counting nearly 500 members, which was a really, really cool experience for us. Again, the feedback, the contributions were very, very encouraging. Also, at that time, our manager, big thanks to her, who always basically pushed us for engaging with the stakeholders early on, starting in a source, and then ultimately bringing this also open source has really been on our back and our support from day one. We did go the way to really bring the offering then productively based on this amazing feedback and the collaborations. Ultimately, and this is now where the open source is finally coming in, we along this way qualified to become part of the investments by the European Union. --- ### [Public Funding Boosted Open Collaboration](https://share.snipd.com/snip/4e716b15-68bd-47c5-9a1c-b813efd9582c) 🎧 14:27 - 15:49 (01:22) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/6d0b8c7e-0f2f-41c1-a73a-4cd222ce07de" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - Public funding and foundation donation accelerated openness and collaboration beyond SAP across European stakeholders. - Inclusion in the EU IPCEI program raised the project's strategic importance and adoption potential. #### 💬 Quote > Our project is therefore now selected to be donated to the Neo-Nefos organization, an umbrella of the Linux Foundation. > — Johannes Ott Johannes Ott on EU investment and donation #### 📚 Transcript **Johannes Ott:** And our project is therefore now selected to be donated to the Neo-Nefos organization, an umbrella of the Linux Foundation. And that really in the end means our entire work is going open source, available for all companies to adopt inside and outside of SAP. The entire business industry can basically benefit from that and contribute to. **Karsten Hohage:** Nice. And did you also just say, or did I only imply that between the lines, that that also means European funding for it? **Johannes Ott:** Exactly. So here we are very proud to be part of the IPSE program of the European Commission that is investing strategically in critical areas for the European Union. And we in our team actually learned along the way this learned about and that Max also coped with it is extremely prominent and costly, not only here within SAP, but also really a big, big challenge affecting our partners, customer, and basically every larger tech developing company here in Europe. And with recent political shifts, which are putting big, big pressure on the entire cloud infrastructure orchestration topic, this has really then gained even more focus. And this is how we became proud part of this European Commission. --- ### [Engage Through Project Channels And Events](https://share.snipd.com/snip/8d153fd0-2114-41da-8005-b334e0e62b59) 🎧 17:19 - 18:04 (00:44) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/f47c872d-f609-47cb-b1dc-a47bfc26a116" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - If you want to adopt OpenMCP, reach out via the project channels to discuss use cases and integration needs. - Join community events like Crossplane Day to collaborate and learn enterprise best practices. #### 💬 Quote > We want to enable this also in your organization, or at least we want to give you the touch points, really, to reach out... > — Maximilian Techritz Maximilian Techritz on how to get started and contribute #### 📚 Transcript **Maximilian Techritz:** so first of all, as an employee at SAP, our tool, our platform is generally available, so it's ready to use as of today. And there are certain ways to find us through our portals. We have an internal documentation developer webpage where you can get started very easily. And of course, the call to action for everyone who is outside of SAP. We want to enable this also in your organization, or at least we want to give you the touch points, really, to reach out, to get in touch with us, to discuss your use case, to discuss your needs, because then we can grow the platform and we can really make use of having a European platform with open managed control planes where the cloud orchestration capabilities are not just something that is important for SAP, really for every organization, for a larger organization, also outside of SAP. --- ### [In-Person Events Spark Contributions](https://share.snipd.com/snip/15b38379-d2f3-48c1-9069-2063c52312fd) 🎧 20:00 - 20:34 (00:33) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/233c259d-f640-443b-8cda-d9d1db3e3171" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - SAP invited 18 larger organizations to a Crossplane Day and saw feature requests and contributions follow in person. - Direct engagement at events turned interest into concrete contributions and collaboration. #### 💬 Quote > As soon as we also meet with them, engage with them in person...we see feature requests, coming contributions in. > — Johannes Ott Johannes Ott on the impact of community events #### 📚 Transcript **Johannes Ott:** Johannes, anything to add? Yeah, since you also asked about how active the contributors are here, really just adding to this cross-plane day that Maximilian mentioned, where we at SAP invited 18 larger organizations to be part of this. And also we saw individuals. And just as an anecdote here, these events, cool to see as soon as we also meet with them, engage with them in person. This is where afterwards we see feature requests, coming in. And this is exactly the path we want to go to. And hopefully, it's not going to be just 18, but even more companies next time. So please, please meet us and the contributors. --- ### [Three Core Takeaways For Adoption](https://share.snipd.com/snip/e26bf692-4228-42c6-b3fa-f70989866d00) 🎧 22:23 - 23:29 (01:06) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/cf25886c-9c83-4af3-a287-a3edd5a68d90" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - Three takeaways: put cloud definitions into code, embrace open source and public collaboration, and contact the team to adopt OpenMCP. - These principles aim to improve stability, simplicity, and community-driven best practices. #### 💬 Quote > Cloud landscape definitions belong into code and simple tooling. > — Johannes Ott Johannes Ott summarizing key messages #### 📚 Transcript **Johannes Ott:** guess that one is on me then. Cool. Yeah, pressing those three key takeaways. I would say cloud landscape definitions belong into code and simple tooling. You cannot achieve robust cloud landscapes on a jungle of tools that your engineers are not comfortable in or with. So that is, I guess, our biggest, biggest learning, or this is where we're coming from. And so far, stakeholders and community agrees strongly, and this is why they keep pushing us. Second one, engineers are proud to work for public projects. And we are, as an organization, and our contributors, pretty exciting about this project and this open source touch it brings, and also the EU connections we are experiencing here. And I would say the third one is more a call to action. If you want to bring OpenMCP or this managed control plane offering into your organization, please, please get in touch with me and we will get you there and happily enable your organization for this stability and simplicity improvement. --- Created with [Snipd](https://www.snipd.com) | Highlight & Take Notes from Podcasts