Percona backs OurSQL Foundation with new Hood appointment

Percona has appointed Louis Hood director of global partnerships and channels to lead its global partner programme.

Separately, contributors from Percona, PlanetScale, PingCAP and Alibaba Cloud have launched the OurSQL Foundation, a vendor-neutral non-profit focused on MySQL and compatible technologies.

Together, the moves place Percona at the centre of a wider effort to deepen commercial alliances around open source databases while backing a more formal community structure for one of the sector's best-known technologies.

Hood joins Percona with more than 20 years of experience in partner development across cloud, data and enterprise technology. He will focus on expanding ties with cloud providers, global systems integrators, independent software vendors and value-added resellers.

Before joining Percona, he was FinOps cloud lead at Tangoe. He also held roles at SoftServe and CDW, working on strategic alliances and go-to-market programmes across cloud and emerging technologies.

Percona said its partner strategy is aimed at broadening access to its database software, support and services for customers operating across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

"Most organizations are operating across hybrid and multi-cloud environments while trying to manage rising costs and growing complexity," said Louis Hood, director of global partnerships and channels at Percona.

"Percona's open approach gives them a different path: more flexibility, better control over cost and infrastructure, and no lock-in. The way is open, and our partner program should reflect that - focused, strategic and built around outcomes that matter."

Peter Farkas, chief executive officer of Percona, linked the appointment to customer demand for greater control over data infrastructure.

"Customers want more control over their data infrastructure, not more complexity or lock-in," he said.

"Louis understands how to build disciplined partner ecosystems that create measurable customer value. His leadership will help us make Percona's open source solutions more accessible, easier to scale and harder for the market to ignore."

MySQL initiative

The launch of the OurSQL Foundation extends that open-ecosystem message into the MySQL community. The organisation has been set up as an independent non-profit to support users, developers and companies involved with MySQL and compatible software.

Its founding board includes Vadim Tkachenko, technology fellow and co-founder at Percona, as president; Matt Lord, software engineer at PlanetScale, as secretary; Sunny Bains, software architect at PingCAP; Tomas Ulin, village historian at VillageSQL, as treasurer; Zongzhi Chen, manager of the cloud RDS team at Alibaba; Jean-François Gagné, MySQL expert and independent consultant; and Peter Zaitsev, co-founder at Percona.

The Foundation aims to give the MySQL community a neutral venue for knowledge sharing, feedback on future development and stewardship of shared resources. Areas under discussion include a public bug database, a tools portal, a transparency log for security patches, and education and training materials.

According to the organisation's published material, Oracle is not a member of the Foundation, although the group said it intends to collaborate with Oracle where interests align.

Tkachenko said the initiative is intended to give the MySQL community a stronger collective voice.

"This Foundation will provide a platform to promote and support MySQL as a database, fostering collaboration across everyone looking to contribute to the broad MySQL ecosystem. It will pool resources and provide guidance around where MySQL fits into the technology landscape today, something that has been missing over the past few years. By bringing the community together under the banner of an independent Foundation, we can demonstrate that MySQL has a valid and vibrant future ahead of it. The OurSQL Foundation will be a neutral organization that will support MySQL as a technology, helping the community as a whole to grow and succeed in parallel with Oracle's renewed focus on MySQL community development," said Vadim Tkachenko, co-founder of Percona.

Backers from outside Percona also framed the move as a response to long-term concerns about sustaining interest, talent and shared infrastructure around MySQL.

"PlanetScale has been working deeply with MySQL and Vitess for many years - helping to support the broader MySQL community and our customers as they encounter challenges operating MySQL at scale. Supporting The OurSQL Foundation is another route for us to support MySQL and help grow the community. Without the next generation of developers learning about where and how MySQL shines versus alternatives in the space, the community will continue to slowly retract. For companies that rely on MySQL at scale, keeping that pipeline of developer interest and talent centered around MySQL will be essential and the OurSQL Foundation is uniquely positioned to help foster a healthy future for MySQL," said Matt Lord, software engineer at PlanetScale.

Jean-François Gagné, an independent consultant and founding board member, described the Foundation as an extension of existing community efforts.

"Open source involves collaboration and finding ways to give back, so that we can learn and meet our challenges together. Doing my part involves blogging and speaking around MySQL, and maintaining the Planet for the MySQL Community news aggregator. I support The OurSQL Foundation as a continuation of this effort, providing the community with a vendor-neutral forum to collaborate and to make sure MySQL keeps allowing us to meet our challenges in the years to come," said Jean-François Gagné, MySQL expert and independent consultant.

Percona's role in both announcements underlines its effort to expand its influence through commercial partnerships and community structures rather than proprietary control.