In the relatively short window of time that Kubernetes has been around, it’s rapidly matured as a critical technology foundation for the cloud, and now even applications that were previously thought to be unviable for containers are running with Kubernetes. As companies expand their usage of it, the need to operationalize Kubernetes with automation and optimization is critical to maintaining speed, agility and control in the long-term.

The cloud native revolution brought by Kubernetes has transformed the way we build and deliver software, but the world of big data has for too long been left on the side of this transformation. Thanks to many contributions from the open source community, Apache Spark integration on top of Kubernetes is now officially generally available with the recent releases this year.

The dynamic nature of cloud native applications is both a blessing and a curse. The ability to use compute, storage, and network resources without managing physical hardware is a real blessing. Your applications can take advantage of the seemingly limitless resources available in the public cloud. Unfortunately, the curse becomes clear when the bill arrives! It is a significant CloudOps challenge to find the balance between providing optimal application performance and minimizing cost.

Spot by NetApp’s Ocean continually optimizes a Kubernetes cluster’s data plane. When Ocean identifies nodes that aren’t being fully utilized, it simulates various bin packing scenarios. Once a more efficient layout is identified, Ocean reschedules pods, and then gracefully terminates the underutilized nodes. Ocean’s continuous optimization of cluster infrastructure saves your organization money and is better for planet Earth!

The cloud not only ushered in a different way of developing and deploying software, but it also introduced a fundamentally different security reality, presenting new challenges to teams responsible for keeping environments secure. Designed to be dynamic, cloud environments can be in a near-constant state of change, with infrastructure resources spun up and down multiple times a day to support cloud applications.

When companies use Elastigroup, Spot by NetApp’s cloud compute platform, they’re able to operate the most efficient, reliable infrastructure at the lowest possible cost. Elastigroup’s core features automate infrastructure management and optimize cloud resources, delivering up to 90% savings on cloud costs.

Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) helps to reduce the complexities of managing and deploying workloads with Kubernetes. While AKS is responsible for your Kubernetes control plane, you can further offset operational demands by integrating it with Spot Ocean, a managed data plane for AKS and Kubernetes.

Google Cloud has announced a public preview of their new Spot VMs, and is partnering with Spot by NetApp to help users benefit from the cloud provider’s excess compute capacity. Spot VMs will enhance Google’s current offering of spare capacity, Preemptible VMs, and will give customers even more savings with fewer restrictions. Paired with Spot by NetApp, users will have cost-efficient, automated and optimized cloud infrastructure.

It’s been over a year since Spot was acquired by NetApp, and since the acquisition we’ve been able to not only grow revenue significantly, but also accelerate our investments in the Spot product portfolio as a core pillar in NetApp’s cloud strategy. We’ve acquired companies, including Data Mechanics, to accelerate our investments in Kubernetes, Spark and big data.