The Engineering Blueprint: Transitioning From Enterprise Code to Open Source
Open Source For You, Thursday, August 27th, 2026
Siemens describes its decade-long path from proprietary enterprise code to a successful open source project.
Siemens turned its internal Element Design System from proprietary enterprise software into an open source project by first building an inner-sourcing culture across global teams.
The company spent ten years developing collaborative practice, modular architecture, and quality standards before releasing anything publicly.
To protect brand integrity, it decoupled reusable UI components from proprietary branding assets and maintained separate GitHub and internal repositories with synchronized CI/CD pipelines. The takeaway is that enterprises should establish internal collaboration frameworks before attempting public open sourcing.