ABAP and Open Source – A Senior Manager’s Perspective

OpenSSL

What is SSL and how does secure internet communication work? In this episode, we explore SSL, encryption basics, and the story behind OpenSSL—from early web security to modern open-source cryptography. In this episode, we break down SSL, TLS, encryption, and secure communication in a simple, practical way, while exploring the history and impact of OpenSSL—one of the most widely used open-source security libraries. We go back to the early internet era of Netscape vs Internet Explorer, when encryption was restricted and controlled, and SSL was just emerging. Learn how OpenSSL was created, how export laws shaped cryptography, and why open source changed everything for web security. We also dive into: 🔐 How SSL/TLS encryption works 🌐 The evolution of internet security protocols 💥 The Heartbleed vulnerability and its global impact 🧠 Cryptography basics like randomness and elliptic curve algorithms 👥 How the OpenSSL open-source community operates 🏢 The structure of the OpenSSL Foundation and commercial support You’ll also hear a real journey into open source—from first contributions to becoming part of a core team—giving insight into how major security projects evolve behind the scenes. * Guests: * Matt Caswell - https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-caswell-5a8b14/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-caswell-5a8b14/]

Cloud Foundry

Cloud Foundry after Kubernetes: How a lighter community process, growing contributions, and a new path to Kubernetes are shaping the platform’s next chapter. In this episode of the Open Source Way podcast, Karsten speaks with Beyhan Veli about the current evolution of Cloud Foundry and the community behind it. They discuss how the project reorganized its contributor processes to make onboarding easier and more transparent, leading to a significant increase in community participation and RFC-driven innovation. Beyhan also shares updates on recent platform features, including cloud-native buildpacks, improved health checks, configurable routing algorithms, and IPv6 support. The conversation explores how Cloud Foundry and Kubernetes are increasingly seen as complementary technologies rather than competitors, culminating in a new initiative to enable Cloud Foundry deployments directly on Kubernetes. Together, they reflect on the renewed momentum in the ecosystem and what the future may hold for developers and contributors. Guests: * ⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/vogt-florian/]Beyhan Veli  [https://de.linkedin.com/in/beyhan-veli-791a093](LinkedIn)

UI5 & MCP - Navigating the Model Context Protocol in SAP

In this episode, we delve into the intricacies of the Model Context Protocol (MCP) within the SAP ecosystem, a pivotal component designed to offer domain expertise to LLMs. Join our host alongside Tim Back and Florian Vogt as we unpack the role and significance of MCP in the SAP ecosystem in the world of AI. Guests: * Florian Vogt [https://www.linkedin.com/in/vogt-florian/] (LinkedIn) and on GitHub [https://github.com/flovogt] * Tim Back [https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-back-b9348a5/] Show Notes: UI5 MCP Server Blogpost [https://community.sap.com/t5/technology-blog-posts-by-sap/give-your-ai-agent-some-tools-introducing-the-ui5-mcp-server/ba-p/14200825] UI5 MCP server on GitHub [https://github.com/UI5/mcp-server]

ABAP and Open Source – A Senior Manager’s Perspective

In this episode of The Open Source Way, Karsten Hohage chats with Sonja Lienard, Senior Vice President and Head of ABAP Platform at SAP SE. They delve into Sonja’s professional journey, her contributions to ABAP development, and the significant role open source technologies play at SAP. The discussion covers Sonja’s involvement with various programming languages, the integration of Eclipse IDE and Rust into ABAP development, and the importance of bottom-up innovation. Sonja emphasizes the value of swarm intelligence and the necessity for senior management to grant developers the freedom to explore open source projects. Tune in for an engaging conversation on how open source drives both external collaboration and internal development at SAP – from a senior manager’s perspective! Guests: Sonja Liénard Sonja Liénard is Senior Vice President and Head of ABAP Platform at SAP SE. In her role, she leads a global engineering organization and defines the long-term vision, strategy, and roadmap of the ABAP platform in multiple areas such as Generative Artificial Intelligence, ABAP Cloud, ABAP Platform Infrastructure, and Custom Code Transformation for SAP’s Clean Core strategy. Follow Sonja on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sonjalienard/ [https://url.sap/r4jsw5] Show Notes: * SAP Help Portal | ABAP Development Tools for Eclipse [https://url.sap/ce7clx] * SAP Learning | Learn the Basics of ABAP Programming on SAP BTP [https://url.sap/rwtajr] * The Open Source Way | License Compliance – From risks to developer friendly processes [https://url.sap/adryah] * The Open Source Way | Rust – A Language on the Rise [https://url.sap/7jes27] * The Open Source Way | Eclipse Dirigible – An Open-Source Platform for End-To-End Rapid Development of Business Applications [https://url.sap/our85b] * SAP Open Source Program Office * Innovation at SAP | SAP Open Source [https://url.sap/yjvtpf] * SAP Community | SAP Open Source [https://url.sap/6bvkla] * SAP Open Source Twitter (@sapopensource) [https://twitter.com/sapopensource] * Email us: ospo@sap.com [ospo@sap.com] * Additional Downloads * Download the transcript [https://sap-podcast-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/open-source-way/25-09-opensourceway-50.pdf] as PDF file * Try out an open-source podcast player – find a list here [https://podcastindex.org/apps?appTypes=podcast+player%2Copen+source] (list not maintained by SAP) Host: Karsten Hohage – Product Expert in Technology and Innovation (T&I) Follow Karsten on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karsten-hohage-0180312/ [https://url.sap/kdbxun]

OpenSearch | feat. Pallavi Priyadarshini

In this episode, our host Karsten Hohage talks with our guests Juergen Walter, Pallavi Priyadarshini and Karsten Schnitter about OpenSearch. OpenSearch is an open-source search, analytics and observability suite which has been enhanced with significant AI capabilities.  This episode showcases SAP’s current use of OpenSearch for observability on their Business Technology Platform and the project’s evolution from Elasticsearch, community-driven development, and AI advancements. Key contributions like FIPS compliance and OpenTelemetry integration are also covered.  Learn how OpenSearch is shaping the future by combining advanced full-text search, observability, and analytics capabilities—all community-driven and completely open source.  Guests: Pallavi Priyadarshini As Director of Search, Pallavi Priyadarshini leads Search at the OpenSearch Project and Amazon’s OpenSearch Service, including its managed and serverless offerings. She also serves on the Technical Steering Committee of the OpenSearch Project, helping guide the open-source platform’s technical direction. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pallavipr/ [https://url.sap/wmg2jo]  Juergen Walter Jürgen Walter is an observability expert in SAP BTP observability driving ingestion and usage, certifications, and stability topics for SAP Cloud Logging and other services. He is a member of the newly formed OpenSearch Observability TAG and contributed improvements for OpenSearch ingest. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juergen-walter/ [https://url.sap/ovn0gq] Karsten Schnitter Karsten Schnitter is a software architect working in the observability area of the SAP Business Technology Platform. He is responsible for SAP Cloud Logging and other logging services for SAP BTP. Karsten is also a member of the technical steering committee at the OpenSearch Project. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karsten-schnitter-7b85b174/ [https://url.sap/3q2me4] Show Notes: * SAP Cloud Logging at Discovery Center: https://discovery-center.cloud.sap/serviceCatalog/cloud-logging [https://url.sap/6k54j6] * OpenSearch Main Page: https://opensearch.org/ [https://opensearch.org/] * Github Project: https://github.com/opensearch-project [https://url.sap/odcnps] * Case Study: OpenSearch@SAP: https://opensearch.org/blog/case-study-sap-unifies-observability-at-scale-with-opensearch-and-opentelemetry/ [https://opensearch.org/blog/case-study-sap-unifies-observability-at-scale-with-opensearch-and-opentelemetry/] * OpenSearchCon North America 2025 | YouTube Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzgr9zSpws14nCUmupVPypGXq87rcFp5Y [https://url.sap/wk5m42] * Cloud Foundry: https://podcast.opensap.info/open-source-way/2022/09/28/cloud-foundry-a-one-size-fits-all-solution-for-application-development/ [https://url.sap/kqj1nr] * Kyma: https://podcast.opensap.info/open-source-way/2020/12/23/project-kyma-an-easy-way-to-extend-enterprise-applications/ [https://url.sap/adiglx] * SAP Open Source Program Office * Innovation at SAP | SAP Open Source: https://www.sap.com/about/company/innovation/open-source.html [https://url.sap/6l0xjq] * SAP Community | SAP Open Source: https://community.sap.com/topics/open-source [https://url.sap/h38bbt] * SAP Open Source Twitter (@sapopensource) [https://twitter.com/sapopensource] * Email us: ospo@sap.com [ospo@sap.com] * Additional Downloads * Download the transcript [https://sap-podcast-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/open-source-way/25-10-opensourceway-51.pdf] as PDF file * Try out an open-source podcast player – find a list here [https://podcastindex.org/apps?appTypes=podcast+player%2Copen+source] (list not maintained by SAP) Host: Karsten Hohage – Product Expert in Technology and Innovation (T&I) LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karsten-hohage-0180312/ [https://url.sap/6slijy]