GigaOm Radar for Kubernetes Resource Managementv2.0

1. Executive Summary

Kubernetes, the increasingly popular container orchestration system, provides an abstraction layer that ensures containerized applications and services can be deployed quickly and run easily across any public or private infrastructure. However, it can also add significant complexity, such as by allowing developers to define or omit their resource requests. Organizations often operate many Kubernetes clusters across public and private infrastructure resources, and capacity management and the proper allocation of resources may be put off to a later stage or neglected entirely. Kubernetes resource management solutions provide a way for developers to shift this important function left in a near-automated fashion, with better results than could be obtained by hand.

Kubernetes resource management platforms analyze resource usage and configuration continuously across all Kubernetes platforms within an organization. These solutions surface configuration issues, guide application and platform owners toward configurations that align with the needs of their business, and optimize the availability of platforms and applications while minimizing infrastructure waste.

Kubernetes resource management is a relatively new space, but one that continues to grow adjacent to the larger cloud management market. Continued advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) provide new opportunities for fine-tuning operational parameters and optimizing resource usage and costs, and are a key focus of Kubernetes resource management solutions. Established general-purpose Kubernetes or cloud management platforms focus on the efficient deployment, configuration, DevOps enablement, and runtime management of containerized applications.

While there is significant overlap between more generalized cloud management platforms and Kubernetes resource management solutions, this report focuses on tools that prioritize the optimization of resources (and provide a balance between application availability and cost). These tools tend to provide integrations with other solutions that offer deeper capabilities in DevOps, runtime management, monitoring, and FinOps. Some provide all of these capabilities as components of a single larger platform.

This is our second year evaluating the Kubernetes resource management space in the context of our Key Criteria and Radar reports. This report builds on our previous analysis and considers how the market has evolved over the last year.

This GigaOm Radar report examines 10 of the top Kubernetes resource management solutions and compares offerings against the capabilities (table stakes, key features, and emerging features) and nonfunctional requirements (business criteria) outlined in the companion Key Criteria report. Together, these reports provide an overview of the market, identify leading Kubernetes resource management offerings, and help decision-makers evaluate these solutions so they can make a more informed investment decision.