Kubernetes is the future. Here's why.

As an open-source alternative, Kubernetes will define the second cloud revolution.Earlier this year, we changed our company’s name from 9apps to Aknostic. It’s a combination of Cloud Agnostic and Kubernetes. For us, it’s far more than a name change, it’s a commitment and a course for the future. That’s because we strongly believe in the potential of Kubernetes. It won’t just fundamentally change how companies and people build software, it’s going to change the way we do business.

The first cloud revolution

But to understand how Kubernetes will shape the future, we should start with the past. More specifically, the invention of the cloud. The central idea behind the cloud is this: instead of buying a computer, you buy time on someone else’s computer. No need for investing in expensive physical hardware that can break down or become obsolete over the years. 

And the big promise of cloud computing or infrastructure as a service is automation. Through application programming interfaces (APIs), it became possible to automate workloads and it allowed companies to focus on their core business. However, this kind of automation of workloads is difficult to do and also expensive.

The vendor lock-in cloud dilemma

Enter the cloud vendor. Cloud providers like AWS, Azure or Google Cloud Platform offer hundreds of reliable and easy-to-use services that have become indispensable tools for dev teams. Though this may sound like a good thing, it also poses a dilemma. These cloud service providers have also out-automated everyone else, so essentially, a handful of tech giants control the market.

What that comes down to, is that once you’ve chosen a provider, you get what you get. It’s very hard to pick and choose the cloud services you need from different providers, you’re stuck with the ones your cloud provider offers. Your business and how you choose to run things are now platform-dependent.

The second cloud revolution

As more and more microservices were offered on the cloud, containerization became the industry's go-to solution. Google runs millions of containers for its services, for example. But in order to make sure all these groups of containers could be managed properly, a container orchestration tool was needed.

This is where Kubernetes comes in. Originally designed by Google, Kubernetes is an open-source container orchestration system for automating software deployment, scaling, and container management. The Cloud Native Computing Foundation, part of the Linux Foundation, now maintains the project. It works with any cloud environment and although there are also other container orchestration systems, Kubernetes has become pretty much the industry standard.

But what makes it revolutionary? First off, it’s exactly what the first cloud revolution promised but couldn’t truly deliver. Kubernetes makes automation easy, scalable and affordable. The second reason is that it effectively cuts out the Big Tech middleman because it’s platform independent. In other words, it allows companies using Kubernetes to be cloud-native and cloud agnostic.

What it means for your business

Kubernetes redistributes revenue and redefines ownership. It gives you freedom of choice. And this is exactly why we’ve embraced it and decided to change our name to Aknostic. The companies we work with, now get to pick and choose exactly the cloud services they need to help them grow. Their developers can spend their precious time on focusing what they do best.

And this freedom of choice also opens up a whole new world of possibilities. The sky is the limit and your business can change dramatically because of it. We are more than cloud engineers,  we can also help you set a new course, and make sure it’s smooth sailing through these uncharted waters.

Curious about what we can do for you with the help of Kubernetes?