Why Microsoft Should Acquire Docker To Better Compete Against Kubernetes

Docker needs someone to help him make money, and Microsoft needs container coverage against Google.

 Unless suddenly hit by a truck while crossing the street of containers, the war of container orchestration is Kubernetes to be lost. Apache Mesos can still have an advantage when it comes to data analysis tools like Apache Spark, and Docker still has its name on all containers, but Kubernetes is a beloved community and increasingly ebcoming the default tool for managing Containers to scale.

Docker Inc., however, has something that Kubernetes does not: Rich and long-standing support for Windows. Sure, Kubernetes now supports Windows Server, but it's still alpha. Even more importantly, Microsoft has every reason to go all-in on Docker as it covers against Google. A year ago, rumors were rumored that Microsoft wanted to buy Docker for $ 4 billion, with valuation apparently the only thing that ruined the deal.

Today, with the market set to follow container orchestration and not runtime, and Docker struggling to monetize the latter's popularity, it's a perfect time to duplicate on Windows Server ... and Microsoft.

The enemy of my enemy in containers is my friend

Containers have moved from the developer toy to the extraordinarily fast essential business infrastructure. As such, the importance of the management tool around containers has grown in tandem. While the party lasted, Google-spawned Kubernetes has quickly risen to dominate the container orchestrating space, developed by a lot of heavyweights, including Google, Red Hat, IBM and more. A recent survey of 451 Container Adoption Research found that 71% of such companies use Kubernetes.

 One of the companies that had been absent was Amazon, although "they have recently begun contributing to Kubernetes and other CNCF projects, which is a positive sign," said Linux Foundation vice president Chris Aniszczyk. AWS has a lot to gain from Kubernetes, but also potentially a lot to lose, since a Kubernetes-as-a-Service offer would probably move more workloads to AWS, but it would also make it easier to get out. As such, it is understandable that AWS has not yet offered a Kubernetes service, even though it benefits from it, since most of the Kubernetes deployments are in AWS today.

Docker is only to blame for losing container drive to an upstart of Google hatched. Of course, the industry could not fail to pay attention to Google-esque infrastructure tools, given that Google has been running scaled containers for eons. Still, if Docker had truly opened up to the community, instead of hogging its technology, we might see Docker Swarm as orchestrating de facto containers on the market, instead of a run as well.

The only place where Docker's orchestration engine remains popular, and it's a very big (and very important) place is Redmond, where Microsoft's early bet on Docker continues to grow.

Where do you want to put in containers today?

Given the popularity of Linux these days, it's easy to forget that Windows Server still owns about half the market. While Kubernetes is booming in Linux Land, Docker could very well dominate the Windows world. A large part of the business market, where Docker has targeted, happily runs Windows. Why not focus on that?

After all, in terms of differentiation, no other container orchestration suite can claim to support Windows as well as Docker, and no other option has so much support from Microsoft. As one person in the industry told me, "If I were an executive at Docker, I'd be hitting the angle of Windows hard."

Microsoft, for its part, has been singing the public + private workload song since it launched Azure. Docker Swarm could complement that story. As 451 Research analyst Jay Lyman explains, the reason for tools like Kubernetes and Swarm is to provide a unique development layer for developers: "In order to manage this increasingly chaotic IT infrastructure and avoid past mistakes, To provide a unique platform for cloud deployment and operational efficiencies throughout the organization. "

A year ago, Docker and Microsoft re-augmented their partnership, announcing the inclusion of Microsoft (and support for) the Docker Engine with commercial support in Windows Server 2016, as well as the joint support of Microsoft and Docker for Docker Datacenter, aimed at professionals of you.