Freedom to Innovate: How a Complete and Open Kubernetes Platform Can Future-Proof Your Business

As Kubernetes^® continues to reign as the worldwide container orchestration system of choice, many organizations and independent software vendors (ISVs) are realizing that its capabilities could be an essential key to ongoing and future business success. In a survey of 750 members of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation, 93% of organizations are running Kubernetes in production or piloting it in test environments, according to the Cloud Native 2024 survey. But how many of these organizations are truly free to innovate with Kubernetes?

When Kubernetes emerged on the IT development scene, there were three primary options for deploying it:

1. Get a proprietary enterprise-grade solution that included everything, but was a monolithic black box that locked you in with a single vendor
2. Build your own Kubernetes platform component by component, test and verify it, manage updates, security, networking, and so on
3. Use public cloud Kubernetes services.

The first option wasn’t customizable; the second was impossible for organizations that didn’t have the skills, experience, and resources to DIY; and the third was easy to use with cloud-provided add-ons, which would add to cost and could create vendor lock-in.

Fortunately, another option exists today—a “best of both worlds” approach that delivers flexibility, a single operating model, and accelerated innovation for long-term operational success. It’s a complete and open Kubernetes platform provided by a vendor (like Nutanix) that does all the assembly, testing, and more. You get the modular architecture, customization, and a single, unified platform that runs the same way across every IT environment, whether it’s on-premises, in the cloud, or on the edge.

What Exactly Does "Complete and Open" Mean?

First, it’s important to define a couple of terms:

• Complete means production-ready—an enterprise Kubernetes platform should deliver all the capabilities you need for real-world deployments, without requiring you to cobble together critical features like security, observability, networking, and lifecycle management on your own.
• Open means built from best-of-breed open source software components, using upstream, unmodified versions of Kubernetes and other critical projects from the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) ecosystem.

A truly open platform is one in which none of the piece components have been modified by a vendor or include an extra proprietary layer on top of the Kubernetes system, both of which can greatly restrict compatibility and its open nature. Open also means that it’s modular, or open to modification by the user, versus being a black box. Open platforms expose open APIs instead of hiding them behind proprietary ones, to ensure your applications stay portable across any Kubernetes environment, which gives you the flexibility to place applications and other workloads where they operate the best.

A complete and open platform enables organizations and ISVs to innovate more freely and adapt to technological advancements and fluctuations in market trends and customer demand as they occur.

The Risks of Closed or Less-Open Kubernetes Platforms

While many vendors offer Kubernetes solutions, not all approaches are created equal. Some proprietary platforms modify open-source projects, introduce custom APIs, or limit portability between environments. Others bundle critical production features into closed extensions, creating a "walled garden" that can keep you from taking advantage of the latest features and capabilities.

Vendors typically do this to add value that only they can offer customers, but these closed systems can introduce serious risks: 

• Vendor lock-in: Proprietary APIs or modified components tie your applications and operational models to a single vendor.
• Limited innovation: Proprietary platforms often don’t include best-of-breed advancements, which means you could miss out on features or capabilities developed by the open source community that could give you a competitive edge.
• Siloed operations: Many organizations use one Kubernetes solution on-premises and a completely different solution for the cloud. This can occur because some Kubernetes solutions only run in specific environments, but another reason is the common default (but incorrect) assumption that things are different in the cloud, and it needs a separate team. This siloed approach results in multiple teams with different operating processes.
• Decreased portability: Being able to run applications in different environments is one of the basic tenets of using containers in the first place—but closed platforms can make it impossible to run apps the same way across your entire ecosystem.

Some vendors have found ways to add value for customers while also keeping their platforms open. They simply add their custom or proprietary extensions and automation around the open components. This guards against vendor lock-in and gives customers peace of mind that there is an off-ramp to other vendors or systems if they ever need it.

Benefits for End Users

Choosing a complete and open Kubernetes platform unlocks several important strategic advantages:

• Access to CNCF innovation: Staying aligned with the latest open-source projects means you can leverage cutting-edge technologies from thousands of contributors worldwide—without having to wait for proprietary vendors on a forked branch to catch up.
• Application mobility: Open APIs and standard interfaces help you avoid vendor lock-in and enable true portability of applications across public and private clouds, on-premises servers, and edge environments.
• Unified hybrid multicloud operations: Using open platforms with open APIs like Cluster API and other standards allows you to run Kubernetes consistently across all environments—helping you lower costs, simplify security, and reduce operational complexity.
• Best-of-breed customization: A modular, open platform lets you mix and match open source and commercial solutions to meet your business needs, avoiding the need to rely on a single vendor’s entire stack.
• Lower costs and smaller teams: With unified Kubernetes operations across all of your environments, you need fewer specialized teams and can improve efficiency and lower management costs.

The flexibility offered by a complete and open Kubernetes platform is critical in today’s fast-paced digital world. It allows you to develop applications in a public cloud, for instance, where capacity can scale up or down as needed on demand—and then move less dynamic production workloads to the edge or on-premises for heightened performance and potentially lower costs.

Benefits for ISVs

An open Kubernetes approach is equally vital for ISVs. Benefits include:

• Faster route to market: By developing with open source components and APIs, ISVs can quickly launch solutions without needing extensive custom integrations.
• Ecosystem growth: Because the platform is compatible with so many other solutions, ISVs have a larger target audience and more opportunities to potentially increase revenue.
• Support for the open core model: ISVs can deliver commercial versions of open-source projects (such as enhanced load balancers, security tools, and observability solutions) and make it easy for customers to upgrade from the open-source solutions provided by the platform.

Ultimately, open platforms create a healthier ecosystem for open source development and technology itself—one that rewards innovation, motivates developers to continually improve their solutions, and gives customers many choices. This is essential for the health and continued growth of the CNCF community.

The Power of Modularity

In addition to choosing an open Kubernetes platform, it’s important to find one that is modular. A modular system means all key components—like networking, ingress controllers, monitoring, and security—are included by default for a fully production-ready platform. However, it’s easy to customize or swap out components as desired.

For example, an open Kubernetes platform might default to a popular open source load balancer but also allow you to replace it with another open or commercial solution without breaking the overall system. This flexibility is a serious step up from monolithic proprietary platforms, where customization is limited or even impossible.

Modularity enables you to tailor your Kubernetes deployments to your organization’s unique needs without hindering your ability to adapt to changing requirements or implement innovative new solutions.

Open, Modular Kubernetes Success

The benefits of a complete and open, modular Kubernetes approach are helping to improve organizations in many ways today.

For instance, some organizations develop applications in public clouds to take advantage of flexible, pay-as-you-go pricing and near-infinite scalability during fluctuating demand periods. Later, they may move production workloads to on-premises data centers to optimize costs, or even onto cruise ships, military bases, or other remote edge sites where public cloud access is nonexistent.

By adopting a complete and open Kubernetes platform, these organizations maintain one consistent architecture, one security model, and one operational model—regardless of environment. This platform is designed to reduce management overhead, strengthen security, and increase agility.

Future-Proofing Your Kubernetes Strategy

Organizations evaluating Kubernetes platforms should keep one priority at the forefront: future-proofing.

The CNCF and cloud-native landscape continue to evolve at incredible speed. New projects, standards, and solutions emerge constantly. Choosing an open and modular Kubernetes platform positions  you so tomorrow’s innovations can adopt with ease.

A complete and open Kubernetes platform also simplifies hybrid and multicloud operations, which are quickly becoming the default IT model across every industry. Having a single, unified platform that works across environments will help you manage costs, security, and performance as your organization grows.

Open Is Not Just a Technical Decision—It’s a Strategic One

The future of Kubernetes lies in platforms that are both complete and open. They deliver the production-grade solutions all assembled and ready to deploy—along with the openness, modularity, and flexibility to drive innovation and avoid lock-in.

Choosing a complete and open Kubernetes platform today isn’t just about adopting the right technology. It’s about building a foundation for operational efficiency, accelerated innovation, vendor independence, and long-term competitive advantage.

Ready to learn more? Check out this on-demand webinar to learn seven steps to simplify Kubernetes adoption.

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