Findings From The 2021 Kubernetes Adoption Report
Worldwide IT shifts and the agile creed are prompting more and more Kubernetes usage across the board. New research shows that 68% of IT professionals increased their Kubernetes use due to the pandemic. Supported by a thriving community, Kubernetes appears primed to grow in adoption in the coming years.
Kubernetes, the open source container orchestrator, is becoming a source of truth for many organizations. New research proves IT teams are doubling down on their Kubernetes usage with new responsibilities. Evidence also ties Kubernetes use to increased deployment agility and cost savings. Interestingly, higher salaries also are associated with knowledge of Kubernetes.
For these reasons and more, Kubernetes takes the cake as a most-loved DevOps tool in 2021. Below, we’ll look at key takeaways from the annual Kubernetes Adoption Survey conducted by Portworx. We’ll identify some emerging K8s roles and surmise where its future is heading.
Kubernetes Use Expanded Throughout The Pandemic
The digital-first nature of the pandemic has ushered in many new technologies. In terms of Kubernetes, 68% of respondents said they increased their use as a result of the pandemic. Top reasons for Kubernetes adoption include accelerating deployment frequency (59%), increasing automation (54%) and reducing IT costs (46%).
Kubernetes is playing a broader role in infrastructure management and is continuing to support new roles. For example, 84% of survey respondents use K8s environments to test or develop AI models and applications. Additional reasons for using Kubernetes throughout the pandemic include supporting evolving programs and changes to business strategy and increasing revenue.
Raising profits by using Kubernetes is likely more of an indirect than direct result, as more than a quarter of respondents said they expect to reduce IT costs by 30% or more annually as a result of Kubernetes.
The HR Perspective
What about the human element in Kubernetes adoption? Interestingly, data shows that those familiar with Kubernetes tend to receive higher salaries and strike a better work-life balance.
According to the report: “64% of respondents who were ‘very knowledgeable’ about their company’s Kubernetes use reported their annual gross income at between $100,000 and $250,000, versus 59% who said they were ‘knowlegable’ and 50% who were ‘somewhat knowledgable.’ ”
Correlating Kubernetes adoption with better working conditions and improved happiness is a bit of a stretch. Nonetheless, the report found that many respondents (52%) enjoyed their job more during the pandemic than before it, as they can spend more time with family and increase concentration on their work.
Room For Ongoing Improvement
Though Kubernetes usage is skyrocketing, there are still issues inherent with adoption. Looking beyond the report, we’ve noticed room for ongoing improvement:
- Barriers to getting started: K8s is complex and presents a relatively high bar for onboarding. Improving developer experience with proper training and tutorials could help ease adoption.
- Security concerns: Hasty adoption can lead to insecure defaults, improper configurations, and exposed credentials. It’s important to audit your environment and disseminate a security-first mindset.
- Cost optimizations: Though the 2021 Kubernetes Adoption Survey exposed a desire to trim costs with K8s, there are still ways to optimize the platform, as most production containers are underutilizing CPU and memory. Turning off forgotten clusters and optimizing resource utilization can reduce your overall footprint.
As Guo Rao describes in an interview with Container Journal, organizations often use external data storage systems that undermine the native role-based access control (RBAC) features in Kubernetes. He also foresees multi-cluster management becoming a concern for large enterprises. Organizations must realize and address these areas and reverse common anti-patterns if more are to reap the total rewards of Kubernetes adoption.
Future of Kubernetes Adoption
Looking to the future, it seems Kubernetes is set to grow in adoption and function. Kubernetes is expected to play a more prominent role in managing infrastructure over the next two to three years, according to 89% of respondents.
“Kubernetes adoption is continuing to grow as an essential strategy to capitalize on modern data and applications,” says Murli Thirumale, VP, GM cloud-native business unit, Pure Storage. “With its easy scalability, portability and fast iteration cycle, the technology is the most effective way to enable rapid developments and innovation.”
Also, as multi-cloud and hybrid models arise, owners will require a flexible host for Kubernetes deployments. The report found that 30% of respondents feel Google Cloud Platform is the most supportive of this need. Another 30% voted for Microsoft Azure and 25% for AWS.
The 2021 Kubernetes Adoption Survey, by Portworx, surveyed 500 respondents in full-time IT roles at companies with 500 or more employees. To read the entire report contents, download it here.