Kubernetes Surges in Enterprises, But What Can Take It Mainstream?
Kubernetes adoption has experienced explosive growth over the past decade. Ninety-three percent of respondents to the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) 2024 Annual Survey reported that they either use Kubernetes in production, or are piloting/actively evaluating Kubernetes. Further, production use of Kubernetes reached 80% in 2024, up from 66% in 2023.
Kubernetes is well on its way to becoming mainstream, driven by modern application development processes, the rise of generative Artificial Intelligence development and deployment, and benefits such as flexibility and scalability. Within organizations, however, Platform and DevOps teams have spearheaded migration and adoption, existing on their own “island” separate from others on the technology team, such as the security and networking practitioners. To streamline and simplify the adoption of Kubernetes, tighter integration and buy-in from the broader technology team are necessary.
The Primary Drivers of Kubernetes Adoption
Modernization and the drive to accelerate innovation have contributed to Kubernetes adoption. Key growth drivers include:
- Modern application development processes: Developers building applications today utilize a microservices architecture that runs on containers, and Kubernetes is the default orchestration system for these containers. This has been a continual growth driver since Google introduced Kubernetes version 1.0 in 2015.
- The desire for flexibility: The flexibility to move workloads between on-prem and cloud, or in the cloud between different public cloud providers, is a catalyst for adoption. The flexibility of Kubernetes avoids vendor lock-in, giving the user the pricing power — this means if they don’t get the price they want from one vendor, they can easily move to a different provider.
- The ongoing adoption of GenAI: Since OpenAI released ChatGPT in 2022, making the power of GenAI widely available, the advancements and momentum around this technology have been unprecedented. This has driven the use of Kubernetes, as many GenAI applications are run on Kubernetes.
What Will It Take for Kubernetes To Become Mainstream?
As evident, Kubernetes is becoming increasingly pervasive in enterprise; the industry can no longer treat Kubernetes as a separate entity used only by a few specialists. Over the last several years, DevOps and Platform teams have championed Kubernetes adoption, and those users played a critical role in establishing the market. But for Kubernetes to become mainstream, it must be adopted by, and become second nature to, adjacent teams. Achieving this requires education, training, and cross-team integration.
- Educational programs tailored to non-Platform/DevOps technology professionals: Education is mission-critical to widespread adoption across technology teams. Education efforts must start with the fundamentals and build from the basics: What are containers and microservices? What is Kubernetes? How do these technologies and platforms work? What are the security implications? Developing this foundational knowledge makes Kubernetes more approachable and is the first step in driving organization-wide adoption.
- Dedicated training efforts: After gaining foundational knowledge, the next step is putting that knowledge into action through training programs with engaging, ongoing sessions. Security and networking professionals must go on the same training “journey” that Platform and DevOps teams completed years ago. Focused training efforts are needed to support this journey, and today, many Kubernetes engineers are eager to help new users.
- Deeper cross-team integration: Integration with the rest of the enterprise infrastructure and processes is necessary. Many organizations have established processes and tools for networking and security, and Kubernetes is typically operated as its entity outside of these frameworks. Integration into those tools and processes is necessary to unlock broader growth and usage.
The Path Forward for Kubernetes Adoption
Kubernetes usage will continue to rise with the uptick in GenAI deployments, leading to the deployment of corresponding security solutions. To make Kubernetes mainstream, prioritizing education and training, deeper integration, and cross-functional collaboration across technology and security teams is essential.
Current Kubernetes engineers are helping to drive its use by sharing information and best practices with new and prospective users. Additionally, ongoing updates to Kubernetes have made it easier to work with — the system is being hardened from an enterprise perspective. Together, these efforts are streamlining adoption and making it easier for adjacent teams to work with the technology, ushering in the era of mainstream Kubernetes use.
