Mirantis Launches Integrated Container Platform as a Service

Mirantis has launched an as-a-service container platform with a cloud platform based on Kubernetes that is capable of running both monolithic and microservices-based applications.

Company CEO Adrian Ionel says the Mirantis Flow platform is based completely on open source technologies. At its core is a distribution of Kubernetes curated by Mirantis and an implementation of the OpenStack framework on Kubernetes that enables the platform to run monolithic applications.

In addition, Mirantis provides Lens Spaces, a cloud platform through which it enables developers and IT operations teams to collaboratively manage Kubernetes environments, and Mirantis StackLight, a monitoring and alerting tool based on Prometheus and ElasticSearch technologies.

Finally, Mirantis also provides OpsCare, either via a support contract or as a complete managed service.

Mirantis Flow is based on Mirantis Container Cloud, a reference architecture that Mirantis created to enable IT teams to deploy a container platform on public clouds, on-premises IT environments or edge computing platforms.

In effect, Mirantis is acting as the backend of a DevOps team that is committed to enabling developers to spend more time writing code, says Ionel. According to the company, Mirantis Flow can be deployed in as few as five days depending on the complexity of the application environment.

Priced at $15,000 per month or $180,000 annually, Mirantis Flow provides access to 1,000 core/vCPU licenses to all products in the Mirantis software suite along with support for initial 20 virtual machine migrations or onboarding of applications. There is no additional charge for control plane and management software licenses. OpsCare support is unlimited.

Mirantis Flow is the latest example of an IT industry trend that is seeing vendors assume more responsibility for managing platforms on behalf of end customers. The goal is to reduce the amount of time and labor organizations need to devote to managing IT operations. It’s not clear to what degree that approach is gaining traction but there are already thousands of organizations consuming IT platforms as a service they pay for on a monthly or annual basis.

The rise of as-a-service platforms naturally has profound implications for IT operations teams. Many of the tasks once performed by internal IT teams are either now handled by an IT vendor that has invested heavily in automation as part of an effort to streamline the management of the platform in ways an internal IT team is unlikely to match.

Not every organization is going to switch to an as-a-service model for deploying applications. Many have spent millions of dollars over the years customizing platforms to meet their specific requirements. However, in time there may be more instances of as-a-service platforms than there are platforms managed directly by an internal IT operations team. There should also be a corresponding increase in the number of applications that organizations are able to build and deploy as the underlying platform becomes more automated.

In the meantime, most organizations soon will need to determine whether they want to continue on the path as they approach what is clearly a major crossroad in terms of how IT services are delivered.

Mike Vizard

Mike Vizard is a seasoned IT journalist with over 25 years of experience. He also contributed to IT Business Edge, Channel Insider, Baseline and a variety of other IT titles. Previously, Vizard was the editorial director for Ziff-Davis Enterprise as well as Editor-in-Chief for CRN and InfoWorld.

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