GitLab, the Infrastructure as a Service, IaaS cloud computing code repository service based on open source software is vying to win market share in IaaS cloud against Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud offerings.
The time proven way to fight against a stronger, at least optically, opponent is to outsmart the stronger competitor.
GitLab is employing the already classic startup strategy of targeting a niche - code repository which later could turn out to be the bedrock of cloud software production and thus take the cloud computing market by storm. A page rip out from the now classic startup bestseller "The Lean Startup" by Eric Ries.
The niche, develop, adapt as you go strategy was first most successfully deployed by Toyota Motor Company and also touched upon in "The Innovator's Dilemma" book by Clayton Christensen.
History, of course is full of examples where the "lean startup" strategy has not worked. But successful examples like Alphabet, Google owner, Amazon, Meta, Facebook producer, Snap, Snapchat's owner, even Netflix, which is now worth a huge 80 billion USD, even after falling 70 % from its recent peak make for legends and sprout many new startups started by ambitious young men and women.
I personally think GitLab's main advantage is the open source approach. Open source approach increases to several degrees the potential adaptability and agility of the company employing the open source software technology.
The success of a startup challenger like GitLab often hinges on attracting brilliant employees, arguably most importantly brilliant coders. And it is an open secret that some of the most talented programmers are open source fanatics.
In short, as far as I am concerned, GitLab has many ingredients of a successful challenger of the establishment, even be it in a still briskly growing market like cloud computing.
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