First of all, what do we mean when we talk about Kubernetes?

Also known as K8S, the name Kubernetes comes from Greek and means helmsman or pilot. It is a portable, extensible, open-source platform for managing and orchestrating containerized workloads and services, capable of facilitating both infrastructure as code and automation. To promote collaboration between teams and a continuous innovation approach in the development of modern applications, Kubernetes, which is structured around microservices technology, also makes use of the DevOps methodology.

Kubernetes eliminates many of the manual processes involved in the deployment and scaling of containerized applications, while also making it possible to manage clusters of hosts on which containers run in a simple and efficient way. It enables the management and large-scale deployment of containerized applications, legacy applications, cloud-native apps, as well as those converted into microservices, across different environments such as private clouds and major public clouds like Microsoft Azure.

One of the key characteristics of this tool is so-called portability, meaning the ability to move applications from one cloud provider to another and from a private cloud to a public cloud and vice versa.

Why Kubernetes has become so important

According to Gartner’s "The CTO's Guide to Containers and Kubernetes", by 2027 more than 90% of global organizations will use containerized applications for software development. The rise of microservices has opened up new opportunities, changing the rules of application scalability and enabling organizations to build IT structures that are more resilient, reliable, and capable of handling alerts.

The data confirms this trend: according to an analysis by Data Bridge Market Research, the global application container market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 32.7% between 2023 and 2030. Within this segment, “Container Data Management & Orchestration” is expected to represent the largest category of offerings.

To understand the need to develop applications based on microservices, let us compare this approach with the classic monolithic application.

The success of Kubernetes lies precisely in its ability to manage microservices-based development, which offers benefits such as lower costs, more efficient performance, and much faster releases of updates and new features compared with a monolithic application.

What is the difference between Docker and Kubernetes?

Kubernetes and Docker are two compatible and complementary technologies that can be used in different contexts.

Docker is a container runtime, meaning software that provides users with all the tools and capabilities required to run containers on a single host, whether a server or a workstation. Thanks to Docker, developers can deploy and run their applications within a single host.

Kubernetes is a more complex tool that enables container orchestration across multiple nodes where software developed on a container runtime is running (which could be Docker or another similar product). Thanks to Kubernetes, applications can scale horizontally and run with high reliability, because even if one node fails, all running containers can be hosted on the remaining nodes.

The advantage of adopting Kubernetes is the ability to run complex containerized applications at scale, while the advantage of Docker, thanks to containers, is the ability to standardize application management operations and accelerate application delivery.

Why use Kubernetes?

Making software development more simple and agile is the main factor driving companies to adopt this solution. Recent research found that 62% of companies choose Kubernetes to increase application flexibility and 54% to improve developer efficiency. The fundamental element of this solution is, as mentioned earlier, portability, which makes it possible to run an application both on-premise and in the cloud without the need for re-platforming or re-factoring, thereby saving developer time.

In recent years, with the increase in remote work and the need to access services and applications from anywhere, many companies have adopted cloud solutions to bring digital services closer to customers and employees, while also leading to increased costs. Kubernetes not only simplifies cloud usage, but also increases infrastructure efficiency and helps control the growth of associated costs.

Finally, more than one third (37%) stated that the need to improve work efficiency was another determining factor. This aspect will become even more important as hybrid and multi-cloud infrastructures continue to expand and Kubernetes clusters need to be managed across multiple environments. Success depends on the ability to choose the right cloud environments and methods for standardizing DevOps processes across the adopted clouds.

Why choose Kubernetes? 3 points for implementing this technology

1. Integration with all cloud providers. This involves selecting the infrastructure on which the application will run, based on the company’s requirements.
2. Access to all tools and testing and development environments. Kubernetes provides all the tools that simplify development and the migration phase. In addition, the creation of multiple environments is simplified through Kubernetes, which facilitates the setup of different environments in which application development or testing can be carried out.
3. CI/CD automation. An organization using this technology can set up an automated update deployment system to ensure the continuous improvement of developed applications.

Kubernetes in practice: an IT modernization case study

The company in question needed to modernize the execution and development of its applications. Before our intervention, its IT environment was based on legacy products, virtual machines, and application servers such as JBoss or WebSphere.

This resulted in:

• High effort required to manage the IT infrastructure (OS patching, deployment, networking, etc.)
• High demand for application resources
• Limited application scalability and portability
• Long application development times
• Low system security

The decision was made to evaluate an on-premise cloud-native platform after the company stated that it was unable to migrate its data to public clouds.

To meet the company’s requirements, we implemented several clusters for testing/development and production, all of which could be managed as a single cluster from a single dashboard. The proposed solution did not involve managing operating systems, but rather containers. The applications were then migrated to containers, making it possible to benefit from greater strategic freedom and a reduction in IT operations of up to 90%.

This optimization enabled the applications to reduce resource usage and automatically manage networking, business continuity, and application releases, ensuring better service and greater security.

The benefits resulting from application migration to containers and the adoption of cloud-native platforms were:

• Infrastructure scalability
• Greater infrastructure reliability
• More efficient deployment processes
• Reduction in IT operations of up to 90%
• Reduced demand for application resources
• Greater developer autonomy and reduced time to market
• Greater security implemented by design within the solutions
• Cloud experience even on-premise
• Standardization and governance of IT processes across the entire stack, regardless of the underlying infrastructure

Kubernetes is not just a technological tool, but a concrete enabler for making infrastructure and applications more scalable, resilient, and easier to manage.