Top Kubernetes Consulting Service Providers: 2021 Edition

Many of us have heard about containerized applications because they are becoming an industry standard. Containers make application management easier as they contribute to the scalability and overall flexibility of the architecture. But while employing containerized apps for the needs of your business, one has to consider a sophisticated platform to manage this infrastructure. Kubernetes is the most popular solution available today. It was firstly developed by Google, who open-sourced it in 2014, making Kubernetes available for massive adoption. As for Kubernetes' extensive use, the number of companies that employ it has grown over the last five years. Thus, we witnessed an increase of 300% in comparison to 2016. Today, around 90% of businesses have adopted this solution. Herewith, the demand for Kubernetes consulting also boosts as people are interested in getting the best from it. So, it is essential to implement the technology in the correct method.

The word "Kubernetes" can be translated as a pilot or navigator from Greek. This solution was the product of a long evolution that started from apps which ran on basic physical servers. Then, it was advanced to the next level with Virtual Machines and finally reached the stage of containers' deployment where Kubernetes is applicable today. However, if you plan to adopt this solution in the future for production or business purposes, the first thing to keep in mind is Kubernetes consulting services. They will help you to do it correctly and allocate resources in the best possible way. But, what companies provide these services? Let's figure it out!

Here is the list of companies I will review:

• Alpacked;
• DinoCloud;
• Urolime;
• K&C;
• Cazton.

What Is Kubernetes And Why Do You Need It?

Kubernetes or K8s is the open-source solution that is used to orchestrate the containerized ecosystem, manage application deployment, and optimize some technical processes. It allows hosting cloud-native apps in order to enhance their scalability. This platform was developed by Google, who claimed to have maintained their whole architecture in a containerized state.

There are a lot of benefits Kubernetes can boast. For instance, if you develop cloud solutions but want to enhance the app development process, this platform offers organizing containers into clusters and keeping them on virtual (or physical) machines. Otherwise speaking, it greatly contributes to the implementation of the containerized infrastructure to speed up the production. Overall, Kubernetes is designed to automate the operational processes. It comprises many features of other solutions and management systems to optimize the functioning of your containers. Besides, Kubernetes provides a huge freedom in terms of extensibility by building your own custom resources and operators,  that can help you develop cloud-native applications even easier. What else can developers do by means of Kubernetes? 

• Provide orchestration of container-based architecture;
• Optimize your hardware to enhance the allocation of resources for running your apps;
• Make the deployment and updating of your applications automatic;
• Get flexible storage and database solutions;
• Improve scalability of container-based apps;
• Automate the management of containerized applications with such features as autoscaling, auto-placement, auto-replication, and auto-restart.

Plus, Kubernetes can be integrated with various infrastructures. In this regard, you can maintain it on physical servers, virtual machines, or cloud environments of any kind. According to Kubernetes' current statistics, 53% of professionals highlighted that this platform allowed them to reduce the development cycles. Furthemore, 50% of respondents noticed that Kubernetes greatly contributed to the containerization of monolithic applications. 

One of the main reasons why people start using Kubernetes is the necessity to refactor old-fashioned applications into microservices, as it makes this transformation easier. Cloud-native apps also begin by developing containerized microservices. Complex production applications require from several containers to several hundreds or thousands of containers to be employed for app deployment and scalability. Plus, you will need multiple orchestration tools to manage the vast infrastructure that comprises numerous applications of different types. Subsequently, Kubernetes is the platform that gives you access to these tools. The broad-based container infrastructure requires numerous services like those related to security, networking, or telemetry. As the complexity of your environment progresses, the number of containers also grows. Kubernetes allows organizing containers into clusters that make it easier to manage your whole environment and provide the load balance. 

However, Kubernetes is not a universal, sophisticated platform that has everything you need to advance your IT environment. It is a viable solution, however to make it work you need to integrate it with other tools and services such as log management, authentication, or monitoring systems. Thus, if there are some problems with Kubernetes implementation, it may lead to serious breakdowns and bugs. Also the learning curve for Kubernetes itself is quite steep so developers may refuse to look into this direction because of complexity, but when you have experienced professionals when working with k8s it is worth it. That is why Kubernetes consulting is crucial in this situation.

The Best Kubernetes Consulting Companies

Disclaimer: Based on my experience over 15 years.

1. Alpacked

This is a DevOps company that has 8 years of experience in IT consulting. Alpacked provides various advisory services in different areas such as cloud architecture, serverless, DevOps, container orchestration, and many others. The company can boast fast adoption of the newest DevOps practices as well as expertise in how to implement them for business purposes. Alpacked has a solid portfolio with successful cases including Kubernetes implementation. The company can guarantee the highest quality of all the services they provide thanks to their sophisticated quality assurance system. They will never leave your questions unanswered due to around-the-clock customer support. Plus, they offer discounts for startups and loyal clients.

As for the range of services, there are several areas to be emphasized. First of all, they can help you with cloud services, architecture design, cloud migration, and consulting. DevOps services such as audit are at a very high level. Additionally, there are infrastructure automation, CI and CD implementation, log management and monitoring available. Finally, you can rely on holistic container orchestration services. Therefore, Alpacked will help you to configure container orchestration in cloud ecosystems or on-prem, as well as with security evaluation. They also offer container management services including Kubernetes managed ones. 

The main strength of Alpacked is its team of experts. All of them have sufficient experience in DevOps, implementation of new technologies, adoption of advanced practices, and professional attitude. The company has passed 10 different certifications confirming its excellence and expertise. It deals with projects of any complexity meeting deadlines and expectations. Flexible pricing speaks for their focus on customers. Thus, they are able to come with an appropriate plan for almost any project and its budget. Plus, Alpacked provides post-project support within 6 months. 

Pros:

• Solid experience confirmed with certifications;
• Comprehensive Kubernetes consulting;
• 24/7 customer support;
• Post-project support;
• Discounts for startups and loyal customers. 

Cons:

• It is difficult to evaluate the price of a project before contacting them.

2. DinoCloud

This company collates engineers, architects, trainers, and consultants who have in-depth expertise in Kubernetes. The team of DinoCloud had solid experience in cloud consulting that encompasses design, implementation, and security of the infrastructure. The company succeeded to identify and capitalise upon the Kubernetes potential as soon as it became open-sourced. Since then, DinoCloud practices the infrastructure-agnostic approach helping others to get the best of the containerized environment with Kubernetes. Consequently, the company provides not only consulting services but also assistance in the production and management of container clusters. Besides, they can help you deploy your applications, or migrate the legacy apps to Kubernetes container-based environments.

The company has a broad specialization that covers areas such as cloud infrastructure management (for cloud-native apps), managed Kubernetes services, DataOps architecture design and AI for container orchestration. Similarly, another field to be mentioned is the cloud-native DevOps consulting that contributes to the Kubernetes implementation, resulting in a higher degree of scalability and automation. If you have an issue with legacy systems, you can address it with application modernization consulting. DinoCloud can also boast expertise in AI/Machine learning, as well as in microservices development and container security engineering. DinoCloud has collaborated with companies in different industries from the financial sector to healthcare and retail. Ultimately, this is why its experts know how to satisfy the needs of various businesses. 

Pros:

• A variety of services for Kubernetes implementation;
• Solid experience;
• Expertise in AI and Machine learning;
• Legacy migration and refactoring services. 

Cons:

• No information about post-project support.

3. Urolime

When it comes to creating a complex clustered environment with Kubernetes adoption, Urolime will bring you through this process step by step. With its sophisticated consulting services, you can be sure to upgrade your CD/CI processes, as well as the whole infrastructure. The team of experts will help you get into the swing of things concerning how to best manage the container-based infrastructure, by organizing containers into clusters. The company focuses on helping customers to break down the nuances of the scaling and deployment of containerized apps, plus how to monitor then automate them. With Kubernetes, it is possible to make such features as quality testing or error detecting automatic. Overall, Urolime manages to always unleash its full potential.

Urolime shines amongst other companies with its strong focus on DevOps consulting. In this regard, it has sufficient experience in cloud migrations, plus the development of scalable architecture on GCP, AWS, and Azure. The list of major upsides also includes Dockerization, deployment automation, disaster recovery planning, infrastructure automation, and security solutions. They also provide around-the-clock customer support. So, do not hesitate to contact them via live chat, email, or even phone, if you have any questions or want to evaluate the cost of your project. 

Pros:

• Comprehensive Kubernetes implementation services;
• Strong focus on consulting;
• 24/7 customer support;
• Kubernetes solutions based on Azure, GCP, and AWS. 

Cons:

• No information about prices or special offers on the main page.

4. K&C

Every business has particular demands and expectations from Kubernetes. K&C builds the whole consulting process around identifying those needs and providing sophisticated project design with comprehensive assistance. There are some major areas where collaboration with this company is the most effective in the industry. The list of popular consulting services includes Kubernetes cluster audit, Infrastructure design consulting andKubernetes infrastructure implementation. Plus, they offer ongoing support when adopting K8s to help you figure out clusters and the Kubernetes ecosystem in the context of your project.

Even if you have already adopted K8s for your business purposes, it is also vital to use Kubernetes cluster audit as it allows optimizing clusters to enhance their security, scalability, and configurations. Plus, K&C experts will help to find out the best practices to ensure production readiness. Conversely, they can help you develop cluster infrastructure from scratch providing a certified design. This design usually comprises the integration of shared service components, configuration set-up, ongoing delivery, monitoring, and logging, etc. Although K&C is a cloud vendor-independent company, it still can provide assistance with choosing appropriate cloud resources. Moreover, they can help you with adopting deployment automation features without code duplication and other major mistakes. 

Pros:

• The company operates since 1999;
• Ongoing project support;
• 24/7 customer service;
• Sophisticated Kubernetes consulting services. 

Cons:

• You can estimate the quality of services only by observing their case studies.

5. Cazton

Cazton has assisted large, middle-sized, and small businesses in Kubernetes consulting, deployment, and container-based infrastructure development over the last 7 years, since the technology has been open-sourced. It can help you to develop self-healing containers, improve configuration management, and adopt a lot of automatic features that are essential for an advanced containerized environment. Plus, I discovered some services that other companies cannot boast, such as load balancing, automated rollbacks, or secrets management. However, all other standard services, such as continuous integration workloads and orchestration, are also provided. Cazton involves IT specialists with expertise in various fields. Since 2013, when the company was founded, it proved effective in addressing problems in banking, healthcare, media, the public sector and technology.

Sometimes containers fail. To solve the problem of defective containers, Cazton can help you adopt self-healing automatic features such as auto-restart, automated health checks, and even automatic replacement of failed containers. With configuration management service, you will understand how to deploy and update app configuration by means of Kubernetes. Auto-bin packing allows increasing utilization and productivity of the resources employed. Cazton can also provide assistance in managing load balancing, by giving containers their own IPs and attributing DNS names for particular clusters. Correspondingly, they can help you implement automated rollbacks that will cancel the changes in case of breakdowns. 

Pros:

• Some unique consulting and implementation services;
• Experience in collaboration with large, middle-sized, and small companies;
• Ongoing managed Kubernetes support. 

Cons:

• The lack of case studies on the website makes it difficult to evaluate their expertise.

In Wrapping Up

Kubernetes has evolved significantly over the last 6 years. However, rapid growth periodically impedes companies by revealing pitfalls for those who intended to adopt this technology without any in-depth knowledge. Although Kubernetes opens up the potential for innovation, its ecosystem may seem confusing. Developers' progressive ideas do not always align with the priorities of a particular company. If your budget only allows you to maintain the status quo, it might be challenging to get funding to experiment with the full capabilities of Kubernetes. Before implementing this technology, one should bear in mind that it takes much time and effort. That is why companies that aim at migrating to Kubernetes should hire professionals who know how to manage this process and understand the principles of container-based infrastructure.