As organizations continue to explore Kubernetes adoption, it's essential to view it not just as a technical decision, but a strategic one that directly impacts business outcomes. Kubernetes offers significant operational advantages, such as improved scalability, enhanced resilience, and optimized resource management. However, to make an informed decision, companies must align their metrics and KPIs with broader business goals.
When assessing whether to move to Kubernetes, technical leaders must consider how infrastructure metrics correlate to overall business needs. Here are six key questions to ask in order to assess Kubernetes adoption in terms of potential business results.
Understanding the current cost of maintaining traditional infrastructure is critical. Traditional IT requires upfront investment in infrastructure, including hardware, network, power, and cooling. Cloud native infrastructure shifts this capital expenditure (CapEx) to operational expenditure (OpEx), where organizations pay only for the cloud resources they use. With Kubernetes, companies often see a reduction in infrastructure expenses due to its ability to optimize resources dynamically. For example, Kubernetes automates bin-packing of workloads across many servers, which helps maximize utilization and reduce waste.
Kubernetes’ self-healing and automated deployment features reduce the amount of time spent on manual maintenance. By automating tasks such as scaling, organizations can empower their teams to focus on higher-value activities that contribute more directly to business growth. Businesses can tie Kubernetes directly to increased operational efficiency by measuring reductions in the amount of time spent on toil.
Kubernetes supports rapid scaling, which is crucial for organizations looking to respond quickly to market demands. Also, by shifting to an OpEx model with Kubernetes, new infrastructure can be available for new products instantly. In this way, Kubernetes enables businesses to deploy new features and services faster than traditional infrastructures. Tracking the time it takes to bring new features online can help quantify the agility benefits of Kubernetes.
The reliability of your infrastructure directly impacts customer experience. Kubernetes’ automated recovery and self-healing capabilities (provided your organization has created policies and enforces them automatically) ensure that applications stay online and operational even when unexpected issues arise. By tracking system uptime and failure rates before and after Kubernetes adoption, organizations can directly correlate adoption with improved reliability— and potentially with higher customer satisfaction.
By default, Kubernetes isn’t secure. However, it does enable organizations to implement strong security features, such as integrated security policies and role-based access control (RBAC). These features can help organizations maintain regulatory compliance more easily, ensuring that applications meet industry standards. By tracking the time and resources spent on security and compliance before and after Kubernetes adoption, companies can demonstrate how Kubernetes helps streamline these processes.
As demand for products or services grows, businesses must ensure their infrastructure can scale without disruption. Kubernetes allows businesses to scale their applications automatically in response to traffic surges, without the need for manual intervention. By measuring application performance during high-demand periods, businesses can see how Kubernetes can support sustainable growth and scalability.
When considering a move to Kubernetes, it’s important to not only assess the technical metrics but also tie those metrics back to your company’s core business objectives. By connecting Kubernetes metrics and KPIs with strategic business goals, organizations can make informed decisions that support long-term success of any infrastructure changes you make. Begin your journey by assessing your current infrastructure and determining how Kubernetes can help you achieve key business outcomes. If you start by asking the questions outlined above, identify key metrics for your business, and tie them back to business goals, you can then make an informed decision about whether Kubernetes is right for your organization.
If you’d like to adopt Kubernetes, but don’t want to have the in-house teams required to build, deploy, and maintain it, consider Managed Kubernetes-as-a-Service. Fairwinds will ensure that your adoption has driven real business value, whether that’s through cost savings, increased agility, or improved reliability.
Watch the webinar, “Unlocking Your Core Business Potential With Kubernetes, Without It Being a Distraction” to learn more and dive into the details.