Interview with STACKIT

Any views or opinions represented or expressed in this interview belong solely to the interviewee and do not necessarily represent those of the PGConf.DE 2025 organization, PostgreSQL Europe, or the wider PostgreSQL community, unless explicitly stated.

What is your company's mission?

At STACKIT we have an ambitious vision for the future: An independent Europe – digital, leading. To achieve our vision, our mission is to lay the foundation for a digital ecosystem together with our partners and customers. In this way we are creating the conditions for independence, growth and future viability in Europe.

As a sovereign cloud provider, we really embrace interoperable standards, Open Source technology and a transparent, reliable, secure and stable infrastructure. But not only do we embrace these aspects, we also actively work on strengthening them. Offering an Open Source database like PostgreSQL is just one example how we integrate open standards and transparency in our infrastructure. Another example for our commitment is the launch of NeoNephos. In March the Linux Foundation Europe announced NeoNephos, an initiative aiming for Open Source cloud technologies and a cloud infrastructure that is independent of providers. We are one of the founding members because we truly believe in the idea behind NeoNephos.

What makes your company a great place to work?

There are many reasons why our company is a great place to work. First, we have a great team of colleagues – we call ourselves the STACKITEERs – who are thrilled to work together for digital sovereignty for Germany and for Europe. It is a great feeling collaborating with our teams to develop our cloud services. Even our management is always involved when we are planning our next development cycles, and we share a great team spirit.

On the other hand, we are a company of Schwarz Group, an international leader in the retail industry with about 13,900 stores and 575,000 employees in 32 countries and with Lidl and Kaufland as pillars of the food retail market. As cloud provider of Schwarz Group, we are independent of the stock market and have the opportunity to focus on our long term goals instead of short term achievements only. Another plus: We are crisis-proof as people always need to eat. With our sovereign cloud we also have great momentum. So, while other provides are trying to downsize, we are looking for talents to achieve our goals!

In which areas do you expect PostgreSQL to grow most and how does your company contribute to and benefit from that growth?

We see strong growth in areas such as cloud-based data processing, big data, and machine learning. STACKIT offers PostgreSQL Flex, a flexible and scalable solution that meets these demands. More and more customers are seeing PostgreSQL as a viable alternative to enterprise databases. PostgreSQL offers the same capabilities as expensive enterprise solutions, but at a significantly lower cost.

Through our expertise and commitment to the PostgreSQL community, we actively contribute to the development of the database and benefit from the latest innovations.

What is your PostgreSQL centered product and what makes it unique?

As a sovereign European cloud provider we really embrace Open Source. This is crucial for maintaining independence from other providers and retaining control over our infrastructure.

STACKIT PostgreSQL Flex is a prime example of how we leverage Open Source to provide our customers with a secure and flexible solution. First of all, STACKIT PostgreSQL Flex is built on the Open Source PostgreSQL database, allowing us to stay independent of proprietary database solutions. We maintain full control over our platform. Plus, being a highly secure database constantly reviewed and improved by a large community of developers, PostgreSQL enhances security and stability. Another great benefit is that our customers can access the PostgreSQL source code. This fosters trust in the platform’s security and reliability.

By running PostgreSQL on our sovereign STACKIT Cloud, customers benefit from more advantages: It complies with European and German data security laws by design. The platform is highly secure as it is protected by cutting-edge security technologies and undergoes regular vulnerability assessments. STACKIT continuously evolves its platform to meet the evolving needs of its customers.

What makes you want to attend the PGConf.DE conference?

We are really excited to attend! STACKIT is a huge fan of PostgreSQL and we see it as a powerful and reliable database solution. We’re always looking for ways to improve our understanding of PostgreSQL and learn about the latest developments and best practices. The PGConf.DE is the perfect opportunity to connect with other PostgreSQL enthusiasts, share knowledge, and learn from experts in the field. We’re particularly interested in hearing about the latest features and advancements in PostgreSQL, as well as how others are using it to solve real-world problems. We believe that attending will help us to better serve our customers and continue to build our expertise in PostgreSQL.

What feature is missing in PostgreSQL and how would it help if added?

While PostgreSQL offers robust security features, a missing piece is transparent data encryption (TDE) at the table level, similar to what is available in enterprise databases. This feature is increasingly requested by our customers, who are seeking enhanced data protection, especially considering the current geopolitical landscape.

Implementing TDE would provide several benefits in our opinion.

First, it would enhance Data Security. TDE would encrypt data at rest, making it inaccessible even if the database server is compromised. This is crucial for protecting sensitive data from unauthorized access or theft. Many regulations, such as GDPR and HIPAA, require data encryption at rest. TDE would help us meet these requirements and ensure compliance.

Offering TDE would make PostgreSQL more competitive with enterprise databases, which often have this feature built in. This could attract more customers and businesses seeking a secure and reliable database solution and expand PostgreSQL’s market share. It would also strengthen PostgreSQL’s position as a leading open-source database, particularly in a world where data security is paramount.

What feature in the last PostgreSQL version benefits your company most?

The Audit Extension is a game-changer to us. It allows us to provide a high level of security and transparency. This is crucial for meeting legal requirements and security standards in the cloud industry. With a detailed audit trail we can quickly identify any unauthorized access or changes to customer data and comply with various regulations like GDPR or HIPAA. By providing a transparent and auditable system, we build trust with our customers, assuring them that their data is secure and handled responsibly.

Another feature we greatly benefit from in use cases like machine learning or spatial analysis is the pgVector extension. It improves performance for spatial queries, which is crucial for applications that rely on location-based data like logistics. We can perform complex spatial analysis, providing valuable insights for our customers. Finally, it is valuable for machine learning. We can efficiently store and query high-dimensional vectors, which allows us to train and deploy machine learning models. This enables us to offer a robust platform for building and deploying AI-powered solutions. With pgVector, we provide a powerful solution and can differentiate ourselves in the market.