Google has partnered up with VMWare and a startup spun off from it, known as Pivotal, to promote its Kubernetes cloud container software suite. Kubernetes helps manage the containers that cloud software is run in, ensuring that it runs consistently and similarly across machines and clients. This makes it perfect for VMWare and Pivotal to package into Pivotal Container Service, or PKS. The plan is for PKS to be offered to Pivotal and VMWare’s existing customers as an all-in-one development and cloud backend solution. Not only will this help Google to get more users into Kubernetes, but will also help grow Google Cloud Platform; as Kubernetes was originally created by Google to help manage its data centers, Google Cloud Platform offers full and easy integration with it.
The benefits here go all around. VMWare and Pivotal get more customers by making PKS as easy to use as possible, and Google gets more customers for both Kubernetes and Google Cloud Platform. Kubernetes has proven extremely popular for development backend and container management since its inception, and when packaged into PKS, it will become even easier to set up and use, and have a chance to show itself to a brand new audience, being VMWare and Pivotal’s customer bases. Even without being packaged up inside PKS, Pivotal customers have historically shown a lot of love to Kubernetes. According to Pivotal senior vice president James Watters, there has never been any resistance against the use of Kubernetes alongside Pivotal’s existing solutions.
Another facet of this deal is Pivotal’s hopes to overcome Docker, the startup that came up with the concept of a cloud software container. Docker’s popularity is nothing to scoff at, but Pivotal is hoping that with VMWare’s reputation and backing, combined with the ease of deployment and use offered by Kubernetes and Google Cloud Platform, it can persuade potential customers to make the switch. Docker’s technology is more universal and can integrate better with a wide range of cloud system backend configurations and platforms, but Kubernetes offers total ease of use and integration with Google Cloud Platform out of the box, which means that those who want to set things up quickly or migrate to Google services may find PKS more appealing than before.