The 5 Most Persistent Myths about Container Technologies

Guest article by Richard Zobrist, Head of Partners & Alliances Switzerland, Red Hat.

Open-source container technologies are an important measure to protect data. Despite this, some companies consider container solutions to be too insecure, too difficult to integrate, too slow, or completely unnecessary. It’s high time to dispel these persistent myths.

1. Too little security

Security teams are finding it increasingly difficult to keep up with the changing risks, compliance requirements, tools, and architectural changes introduced by new technologies such as containers, Kubernetes, software-defined infrastructure, and cloud technologies.

However, to be successful in the long term, security professionals need to change the way they think about containers: they are not virtual machines (VMs) or hosts, and they bring with them changing security challenges that cannot be addressed with traditional tools. Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform enables users to combine open-source benefits with the stability and security of a managed product. In addition, Red Hat OpenShift provides more consistent security over the long term, integrated monitoring, centralized policy management, and compatibility with Kubernetes workloads. Red Hat OpenShift can increase security by providing faster software updates that close security gaps-without you having to be actively involved.

2. Too difficult to integrate

Another myth that persists unwaveringly is the “difficult integration” of open source applications. The explanation for this is that today’s IT landscapes often offer few interfaces to which open-source platforms can dock. However, in this year’s “Open Source Study Switzerland” published by the University of Bern, the main reason cited for using open software is precisely the open standards on which open source is based. This shows that interoperability is central today and that monolithic IT systems have had their day. Business applications are expected to have open interfaces via application programming interfaces, which could be used to exchange microservices data, for example.

3. Lack of expertise

Many companies have a common concern: How can they benefit from open source technologies even if they don’t have their own specialist staff? What solutions are there in concrete terms? And what are the hurdles to overcome? To migrate your applications to Red Hat OpenShift, you don’t need additional staff. You can either work directly with Red Hat or let a certified partner – such as VSHN – do the migration.

Red Hat OpenShift gives you the added benefit of an energetic and supportive community behind the scenes with which to share knowledge and experience. In the dynamic world of IT, this access to knowledgeable professionals is one of the most important reasons for using open-source software. In addition, the dissemination of open source know-how also creates the basis for professional support and ultimately the possibility of hiring experienced open source specialists directly. Thus, open-source becomes a trump card in the battle for IT talent, because the technology makes companies attractive to them.

4. All applications must be based on open source

More and more companies are transforming their business by adopting DevOps principles, microservices, and container technologies like Kubernetes. Red Hat OpenShift is nevertheless often accused of having too few interfaces to other systems and only being successful if all applications are based on open source technologies. The “Open Source Study Switzerland”, on the other hand, shows that an important reason for using Red Hat OpenShift is the enormous selection of freely available components and tools. In recent years, a significant ecosystem has formed around OpenShift, from which customers can benefit in the simplest way.
Since IT decisions are often based on what others are doing, the popularity of open-source software multiplies as it becomes more widely used.

5. Unclear business model of the providers

To put an end to this myth as well, it is worth taking a look back at the beginnings of open source technologies. A milestone in open source history was the publication of the first version of the Linux kernel by the Finnish computer scientist Linus Torvalds. With the invention of Linux, Torvalds succeeded in developing the first completely free operating system for computers and thus laid the foundation not only for a large developer community but also for numerous projects and distributions based on the Linux kernel, such as “Red Hat Enterprise Linux”. As a result, the spread and popularity of Linux and other free software in the corporate world grew steadily, whether it was software for servers, office programs for desktop PCs, or virtualization tools for cloud platforms.

Meanwhile, open-source has solidified its reputation as a driver of innovation for the software industry. The trends that are now increasingly driving our work are all based on open source. These include Red Hat Enterprise Linux, cloud computing, edge technology and Internet of Things (IoT), containers, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), and DevOps. Today, Red Hat is the world’s leading provider of enterprise open source solutions. The company employs approximately 18,000 people worldwide and has 105 offices located on every continent.

Cooperation with VSHN

With the “Leading with Containers” initiative, Red Hat supports both its own customers and its partners in the introduction of “Red Hat OpenShift“. Customers who want to benefit from Red Hat’s container technology via a partner – such as VSHN – receive the same advantages as Red Hat’s own customers. Because VSHN has been a recognized Advanced Partner of Red Hat for over 3 years, specializing in the area of “Certified Cloud & Service Provider” (CCSP).