The next Kubernetes use case
In the last few years, many organizations have taken advantage of the disruptive application deployment operating model provided by Kubernetes. The pattern of segregating the intent expression with data points and then a control plane taking over the rest of the automation is known as Infrastructure as Data (IaD), a term coined by Kelsey Hightower. Many from the Kubernetes community believe that containers are only the first use case for this pattern, and many more will follow in the coming years. A new use case is evolving, with the launch of Crossplane in late 2018 seen as the next big use case for Kubernetes. Crossplane brings the goodness of the Kubernetes operating model to the world of cloud infrastructure provisioning and management. This trend will see people move away from traditional Infrastructure as Code (IaC), using tools such as Terraform and Ansible, to IaD with Crossplane and Kubernetes. This move addresses the current limitations with the IaC model and unifies the approach of automating applications and infrastructure.