If you’re managing multiple Kubernetes clusters at scale, you’ve probably run into Kubernetes cluster sprawl. And if you haven’t, brace yourself, because you’ll likely cross that bridge in the near future.

2022 Gartner® Market Guide for Container Management identifies the major trends in the container and Kubernetes market and offers guidance for organizations deploying containerized platforms. D2iQ, whose offerings we believe align closely with Gartner recommendations, is listed as a Representative Vendor for container management. The findings in the Gartner container management report should be taken in context with the analyst firm’s predictions for widespread cloud-native adoption.

Getting Kubernetes right is hard. If you’ve ever checked out Kelsey Hightower’s “Kubernetes the Hard Way,” you’ll know what we are talking about. Tell your family and friends you’ll see them sometime in the not-so-near future because Kubernetes will be consuming your life. Although Kubernetes adoption is skyrocketing, not all deployments succeed, and the issues that cause deployments to fail can occur between Day 0 planning and Day 2 operation phases.

The common misconception of open-source Kubernetes is that it is free—but in reality, it has a lot of associated costs, including labor and potential business losses from wasted time, effort, and being late to market. Just like a puppy, Kubernetes software itself might be free, but a do-it-yourself (DIY) deployment involves a lot of care, patience, and unforeseen costs.