AWS Opens Marketplace for Container Software
Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced at the AWS re:Invent conference it has created a marketplace through which IT organizations can access container images that can be deployed on any distribution of Kubernetes.
Stephen Orban, general manager for AWS Marketplace and control services, told conference attendees that AWS Marketplace for Containers Anywhere will provide IT organizations with a central location to subscribe to container-based software that they will be billed for through AWS. That approach makes it simpler for organizations to centrally manage billing processes for software developed by both AWS and a wide range of third-party vendors, Orban said.
The current AWS Marketplace is designed for software that is deployed on the AWS public cloud. AWS Marketplace for Containers Anywhere extends that software subscription model to on-premises IT environments in addition to existing container platforms such as the Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS).
AWS claims there are now more than 325,000 organizations that subscribe to software via AWS Marketplace. This addition to the AWS portfolio is being created because it also provides AWS with a way to encourage organizations to migrate their Kubernetes clusters to AWS without requiring them to change any of the licensing terms they have in place with third-party vendors.
Third-party partners that have already made their offerings available via AWS Marketplace for Containers Anywhere include D2iQ, HAProxy Technologies, Isovalent, JFrog, Kasten by Veeam, Nirmata, Palo Alto Networks, Prosimo, Solodev and Trilio.
Andy Langsam, senior vice president and general manager for public cloud solutions at Kasten by Veeam, said AWS Marketplace for Containers Anywhere will significantly reduce the friction IT organizations experience when deploying software across a range of clusters that may be running a variety of distributions of Kubernetes.
Ultimately, there will be multiple marketplaces for accessing container images. However, given the scope and reach AWS already has it’s apparent AWS Marketplace for Containers Anywhere will be among the largest. Ultimately, those marketplaces will help accelerate the adoption of Kubernetes clusters at a time when many enterprise IT organizations are just now starting to deploy the platform at scale in production environments. Many of those organizations already employ a marketplace to set up long-term contracts with third-party vendors that, depending on their level of consumption, are heavily discounted.
The level of transactions occurring on the AWS Marketplace is already measured in billions of dollars. The shift to container technologies has created an opportunity for AWS to extend its reach even further into on-premises IT environments where it now makes available the same distribution of Kubernetes it uses on its public cloud. In fact, as Kubernetes clusters continue to multiply, the distinction between public cloud computing platforms and on-premises IT environments will continue to blur.
The issue IT organizations will need to come to terms with, of course, is to what degree they may want to manage all those Kubernetes clusters themselves versus relying on an external services provider like AWS to do it for them.
