Streamlining and Simplifying

In the world of Kubernetes, there's a growing need for standards – important not just for growing quickly but also for making different Kubernetes setups work together seamlessly. This need will push companies to adopt easier-to-use solutions. Big tech companies with comprehensive platforms will likely join forces with specialized solutions. At the same time, platforms focused on making things easier for developers through automation and user-friendly interfaces will become more popular, making the complex stuff simpler.

In the current competitive market, some companies providing Kubernetes solutions are finding it tough. Some have decided to seize selling these solutions, showing that the Kubernetes layer is becoming a common thing, while the Developer Experience gap is still real and largely unexplored.

Saving Money and Ready-to-Go Platforms

Considering the current economic situation and a focus on saving money, companies are realizing that the effort put into engineering doesn't always match the results. This realization will lead to talks about achieving business goals faster, driving the demand for application platforms that are ready to use. Recently, I talked to a growing software company that moved to the Cloud. They understood that dealing with Cloud, Kubernetes, and developer stuff all at once would be too much. Hiring 4-8 people to build and manage a platform for a small company is not a smart investment. As for saving money, expect more use of FinOps tailored for Kubernetes. At the same time, companies will use techniques to make clusters and containers work more efficiently, trying out things like spot instances, temporary computing, and automation for managing capacity.

The Rise of Easy Functions and Developer-Friendly Approaches

We'll likely see more companies using easy functions to make big systems work better. While Kubernetes platforms are getting better for developers, there's still room to make it easier to manage applications. As things get more standardized, the teams handling platforms and development might get smaller, giving more space for application teams to grow. However, these growing application teams might need extra help to make sure applications get updated without any problems.

There will be more efforts to make the experience for developers using Kubernetes smoother. On the other hand, spending time and effort to provide this experience within the company might become too much, making companies look for simpler solutions. They'll start to realize that they don't need a special platform because their needs are not so different after all. In short, every company wants to deliver features faster for less money. The goal of platform engineering is to make it easier for developers, enabling faster delivery. But if platform engineering can't keep up, developers might look for other ways, making the whole process more difficult.

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Rouven Besters, CEO of Red Kubes

Rouven is a seasoned business leader with a proven track record of driving growth and innovation. He brings extensive experience in international sales, management, DevOps, customer experience, cloud computing, cloud-native applications, e-commerce, and online marketing, having held key positions at companies such as VMware Tanzu, Pivotal, M4N, and Dell. Prior to joining Red Kubes, Rouven led the Northern Europe teams at VMware Tanzu, where he was responsible for the development and execution of go-to-market strategy. Under his leadership, his organisation has been instrumental in helping major banks, insurers, and government institutions accelerate their transition to the cloud and modernise their application stacks. As the CEO of Red Kubes since December 2022, Rouven is responsible for the continued growth of the company.